PAK VS AUS: Usman Khawaja, Australia’s first-choice opener, will miss the birth of his second child in order to participate in the Pakistan tour in March.

After 24 years, Australia’s full-strength squad will tour Pakistan, with Pat Cummins aiming to crush Pakistan on their home soil.

Usman and his wife Rachel, who will open for Australia in the first test, are expecting their second child in mid- to late April.

The Test series is set to end on March 25, but there’s a chance he’ll miss the birth if the kid arrives earlier than predicted.

“She’s very understanding. We even had a conversation about what happens if we had a baby mid-Test match. She knows I love playing cricket, it’s very important to me, she’s very supportive of that, and she knows I try to support her any way I can,” Khawaja said.

“But fingers crossed she doesn’t have a baby while we’re away. I was always going to go. It’s going to take me a lot to come back, it is Test cricket for Australia. I’m sort of not thinking about it because I don’t want it to happen, but ask me if it does happen.”

After replacing Marcus Harris for the fifth Ashes Test, Khawaja will keep his spot at the top of the order. Harris, on the other hand, is still on the selectors’ radar, as a possible replacement for David Warner.

“I’d certainly think David Warner and Uz would likely start as the openers in Pakistan, but we also are aware, not that age is a be-all and end-all barrier, both Uz and Bull are reasonably old,” chairman of selectors George Bailey said.

“We’ve got a lot of subcontinental cricket over the next 12-18 months so it’s important to focus on a succession plan there and develop Harry’s skills.”

The Australian tour of Pakistan is the first of three Asian tours for the Australians, who will later go to Sri Lanka and India.

Cummins wants his team to be at the same level as the Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh-led teams of the 1990s and 2000s.

On Tuesday, Australia named their Test team, with 14 of the 15 players who played in the Ashes named, while Jhye Richardson has been rested.

Mitchell Swepson, a leg-spinner, and Josh Inglis, a back-up wicketkeeper, make the final team, while Mitchell Marsh, an all-rounder, and spinner Ashton Agar return.

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