Australia’s First Test loss v India shows Ashes not guaranteed for Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja

Steve Smith has earned the right to go out on his terms – or at least avoid a tap on the shoulder. But a fairytale finish in next summer’s Ashes is starting to look further away.

The fairytale finish of next summer’s Ashes is starting to look further and further away and could be a bridge too far for a couple of generational batsmen.

Steve Smith has earned the right to go out on his terms, or at the very least, he is still a long, long, long way from ever being tapped on the shoulder by Test selectors, and rightly so.

But the question is, if Smith can’t break what is now the longest century drought of his career this summer (23 innings without a ton), how long will the all-time Australian great himself want to put up with existing as a mere mortal in Test cricket?

Smith has shared several vague thoughts about the prospect of retirement over recent years, and he is certainly aware of Ricky Ponting’s often agonising last couple of years in Test cricket, and you get the feeling he doesn’t want to be a batsman who holds on for too long.

Ponting has admitted in hindsight he probably wishes he did pull the pin sooner.

It was a painful Test for Steve Smith. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

The ideal scenario for Australia would have been to conquer India, consolidate through the tours of Sri Lanka and West Indies, and have their ageing warriors primed for at least one final hurrah against England.

If Smith can pick Australia up on his shoulders in the second Test in Adelaide as he has done so many times in his illustrious career and finishes this series with some valuable contributions, then why wouldn’t he forge onto next summer’s Ashes, when he would be 36?

But if Smith struggles to recapture his best against India, perhaps we are watching his final summer, and the SCG Test could be the finale for arguably Australia’s best batsman since Bradman.

It is only one Test into this series, and let’s see what happens in Adelaide, but change may be coming for selectors a lot sooner than they’d hoped, which is a tricky prospect in an Ashes year.

For a man who has walked with the Gods for so long, Smith deserves to retire with an average of 50 plus.

It is still 56.4, but he was averaging 60 as recently as after the 2023 Test Championship Final.

This is the lowest Test average Smith has had since 2015 when he was in his prime and it was rapidly climbing.

Smith (17 off 60 with no boundaries in the second innings against India) looks good for periods but then appears stuck in the mud at other times and overall he is vulnerable when he used to be indestructible.

Usman Khawaja doesn’t quite have Smith’s licence to play for as long as he sees fit, but he should have at least the entire series before the blowtorch is applied.

The opener has had a superb past couple of years and averaging 45 with 15 Test centuries is an outstanding career by anyone’s estimations.

Khawaja played a poor shot to get out to Mohammed Siraj for 4, but a rash shot doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of digging in against Jasprit Bumrah and India as this series rolls on.

Like Smith, Khawaja can play a big role in lifting his underperforming teammates out of the doldrums and let his cool, calm demeanour de-stress the dressing room.

Ex-players were critical of Khawaja not facing up to Bumrah’s first over in the final 25 minutes of play to end day three, and instead letting debutant Nathan McSweeney face the music.

The argument being that the right-hand McSweeney was a better match-up for Bumrah particularly with the cracks outside his off-stump.

It’s a small thing and openers have all sorts of theories for determining who takes strike, but certainly Khawaja still shapes as Australia’s best top order hope of seeing off hurricane Bumrah and he has a massive role to play against the pink ball in Adelaide.

Khawaja, who turns 38 next month, doesn’t come across as the type of player who will fight against the end when the end comes.

He understands he may not have played another Test if not for Travis Head’s Covid infection during the 2021-22 Ashes and will retire a satisfied man.

But also, if Khawaja does find form through this series, why wouldn’t he try and continue for as long as he can, especially when he was for so many years robbed of opportunities by being chopped and changed by selectors.

It is too early to say whether Smith and Khawaja will make it next year’s Ashes, but we should have a pretty fair idea by the end of this five-Test series against India.

Originally published as Australia’s First Test loss v India shows Ashes not guaranteed for Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja