Why Did Usman Khawaja Not Open Or Bat At No 3 against England?

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Usman Khawaja was unable to open the innings for Australia in the first innings of the Perth Test. Marnus Labuschagne and Jack Witherald had to open the innings. After bundling out England for 172, when Australia began batting, everyone was surprised to see Khawaja missing. Labuschagne, who batted at number three, came in his place and opened the innings with debutant Witherald.

Why Did Usman Khawaja Not Open Or Bat At No 3 against England?: In the first Test match of the 2025-26 Ashes, cricket fans witnessed a strange situation. Australia's regular opener, Usman Khawaja, did not come to the field to open his team's first innings. The question arose: what happened? If he couldn't open, why didn't he come to bat at number 1 after the first wicket fell?

Let's understand this entire incident and the rule behind it.

Why didn't Usman Khawaja come to open?

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The ICC has a specific rule behind this entire incident, often referred to as the 'Penalty Time' rule (Law 25.2.2).

• Staying off the field: Usman Khawaja left the field for some reason before the start of Australia's innings.
• Rule: The rule states that if a player is off the field during the innings, then when his team comes to bat, he must spend the same amount of time on the field before coming to bat, or a fixed time off. This time is called 'Penalty Time'.
• Result: Since Khawaja's 10 minutes of penalty time had not yet expired, he was not eligible to open the innings when Australia's innings began.

Why didn't Khawaja come in at one-down in the first match?

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This was the most important and decisive turning point of this incident, which proved how strict the rules of cricket are:

• Early wicket fall: Unfortunately, Jack Weatherald was out on just the second ball. That is, the innings had only been in operation for a few minutes.
• Impact of the rule: Even after Weatherald's dismissal, Usman Khawaja's penalty time was still running. Since the 10-minute waiting period was not completed, he could not come to bat not only at the opening position but also at the one-down (Number 3) position.
• Change: As a result, Steve Smith replaced Khawaja at one-down until Khawaja's ban ended.

What Cricket Australia said about Usman Khawaja's absence

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Cricket Australia stated that Khawaja was off the field for a restroom break and stretching. Under cricket rules, Khawaja must wait in the dressing room for at least 10 minutes. This is why Khawaja couldn't bat at number three.

Also Read: Cricketers Who Scored a Century in Their 100th Test Match

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