‘At some stage, Aaron Finch or Pat Cummins to stand up and end the speculations’ – Usman Khawaja

Australia batter Usman Khawaja has said that at some point, limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch or Test skipper Pat Cummins has to get rid of speculations around Justin Langer. Last week, Langer decided to step down from the role of Australia’s national team head coach. His contract was due to expire in June this year. He was offered a short-term contract from June till the end of the 20-20 World Cup.

The former opening batter denied the offer and resigned. Since then, his former teammates have heavily criticized Cricket Australia (CA). Also, former Australia pacer Mitchell Johnson criticized Cummins for not standing up for Langer. Reacting to this, Khawaja said that there will be a stage when both captains will have to address the rumors and put an end to it for good.

“I think at some stage one of the captains, probably Finchy (Aaron Finch) or Patty (Pat Cummins) will probably have to stand up and answer some questions just to get rid of all the speculation that’s going around and to just put an end to it all,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Khawaja as saying.

Meanwhile, Chief selector George Bailey urged the critics to stop speculations and reach out to him to get a better view of what is happening.

“It’s hard as a past player to keep your finger completely on the pulse of what’s going on within the team,” Bailey said. “A lot of their opinions can be based on hearsay and second and third-hand information. So I would always encourage those players to reach out and get a good understanding of what’s happening.”