Usman Khawaja pressures Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch to speak up on Langer exit

Usman Khawaja has spoken out about Justin Langer’s departure as Australia head coach, calling on captains Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch to ‘get rid of all the speculation’

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Usman Khawaja has urged Australia captains Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch to speak out about Justin Langer ‘s resignation.

Langer dramatically quit as Australia’s head coach on Saturday, citing a lack of support from senior players, support staff and the board as the reason behind his decision.

Several of Langer’s former teammates have come out in support of him, with Ricky Ponting claiming ‘a small group in the playing group’ helped ‘force’ Langer out and Mitchell Johnson claiming Cummins ‘clearly had an agenda to get in a coach he wants’.

When asked about the suggestion the players had an impact on Langer’s departure, Khawaja said he is ‘a little bit disconnected’, having not played for Australia since 2019 before his recall during the Ashes.

However, he believes Cummins and Finch need to ‘stand up and answer some questions’ in a bid to end all the ‘speculation’.

“I just came back in the team two months ago,” Khawaja said. “I’ve been a little bit out of it, a little bit disconnected, but there’s obviously a lot of ex-players coming and talking about the playing group.

“I think at some stage one of the captains, probably Finchy or Patty 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.”

Khawaja went on to pay tribute to Langer for restoring ‘humility’ to the Australia team in the wake of the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.

“One thing that I do love JL for, what I feel he bought back into Australia was humility,” Khawaja added. “I felt like he brought humility back in the Australian cricket team.

“You talk about legacy, for me, that’s one thing that he’s left behind. Because I know what we were playing like before he was coach, and I know what we were playing like after he became coach.

“So I haven’t said that to him yet. So I’m saying it to you guys.”