‘It’d be harsh’: Usman Khawaja confident Pat Cummins won’t declare before his maiden Test double century

After a full day of rain, Usman Khawaja remains stranded on 195*. DANIEL CHERNY analyses the tough declaration call facing Pat Cummins if he wants to take all 20 South African wickets.

Usman Khawaja is confident Pat Cummins won’t leave him stranded of a maiden 200. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Usman Khawaja says it would be “harsh” for Pat Cummins to leave him stranded five runs short of a maiden Test double-century after more Sydney rain left the Australian captain needing to weigh up his team’s push for a series whitewash with the veteran’s tilt at a rare individual milestone.

The entirety of day three at the SCG was washed out, leaving the Aussies 4-475 and with two days to take 20 wickets and secure qualification for June’s World Test Championship final.

South Africa batting coach Justin Sammons added intrigue to the situation when he said after play on Friday that he believed Australia would declare overnight if not for Khawaja being so close to 200.

Khawaja said the Aussies would likely wait until Saturday morning to make a decision about whether to keep batting.

Usman Khawaja has been forced to bide his time. Picture: David Gray/AFP

“I’m not the captain, I don’t make those decisions,” Khawaja said of the call whether or not to declare.

“I think it’d be pretty harsh if we bowled straight away. I don’t think that’s going to happen. [Cummins has] been making a few jokes around the changerooms [about declaring] … taking the mickey out of me.

“We don’t know [yet what we’ll do]. We could go out there and probably get a few more runs really quickly, or we could declare pretty much straight away.

“I think there’ll still be an opportunity to try to win the game. Time is the enemy at this stage. You have to decide how you’re going to use that time as best you can. A result is very unlikely. Let’s be honest, very unlikely, but it’s still possible.”

Cummins will be keen to avoid a repeat of last year’s Sydney Test near miss in which England survived 102 overs to eke out a draw with one wicket in hand. On that occasion, Cummins delayed his declaration until after Khawaja had posted a second innings century.

Cummins was in the middle with Khawaja when he scored his first innings century at the SCG in 2022. Picture: David Gray/AFP

Declaring on batters so close to a major milestone is a touchy subject in cricket. There have been several notable examples, including Michael Atherton’s call to leave Graeme Hick on 98 not out in the SCG Test of 1994/95, and Peter Nevill’s decision to pull the pin on a NSW Sheffield Shield innings with Mitchell Starc 14 runs shy of what would have been his maiden first-class century in 2020. Starc was left so disappointed that Nevill had to apologise to the big-hitting paceman.

Sammons acknowledged the Aussies had been left with a conundrum but said his own attitude was to always put the team first.

“I think if Khawaja wasn’t on 190 odd, I think they would declare straight away,” Sammons said.

“I’d imagine they might let him go out there and get to that double and then declare.

“It is a tricky one. I think there could be a number of factors that would maybe help in those decisions, like where you are in the series, or how much impact does the specific game have on the World Test Championship table.

“Personally I think if you’ve got a team-first sort of culture you’re heading in the right direction. My personal belief is team-first.”

Khawaja’s milestone is likely the only thing stopping the Australians from declaring immediately. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

The Aussies were left in such a bind as a result of the Sydney weather. Friday was the 26th day in Sydney Test history to be washed out entirely; more than all other Australian Test venues combined.

But Khawaja – whose Test average at the SCG of 130.83 is the best of any Test batter at any venue with a minimum of 10 innings – said he did not want to see the match move from its traditional slot.

“I’m all for change but I do like traditions,” Khawaja said.

“The week before this, it wasn’t raining at all. I think it’s pretty unlucky that we actually got rain this specific week.”

Originally published as ‘It’d be harsh’: Usman Khawaja confident Pat Cummins won’t declare before his maiden Test double century