Speculation has been rife about whether Khawaja\u2019s 88th Test at the SCG against England will be his final game for Australia. Khawaja, who turned 39 during the third Ashes match in Adelaide, has looked assured since moving to the middle order.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But with selectors under pressure to refresh an ageing Australian Test side, the Sydney fixture is widely viewed as a possible farewell for Khawaja. \u201cI would say to Usman, \u2018Don\u2019t let them decide. You decide your destiny\u2019. When someone has been playing for so long, we\u2019ve just got to let them decide,\u201d Vaughan was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cUsman has had an incredible career and not many get the chance to say goodbye on their own terms at their own venue. If he doesn\u2019t do that, he runs the risk of his career ending not on his own terms. I can\u2019t think of a better way to say goodbye than at his home ground in an Ashes series.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIf Uzzie has got the energy and capacity to really want to fight on, yeah, I could see that happening, but leaving in Sydney in an Ashes series sounds pretty good to me. The likes of Matt Renshaw, Nathan McSweeney, Campbell Kellaway and Ollie Peake, they\u2019re the players we\u2019ve got to get into the Australian side in the next year or so,\u201d he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
England head into the SCG Test under pressure to avoid a heavy defeat, with Vaughan adding that the result is likely to shape the future of the Brendon McCullum\u2013Ben Stokes leadership combination. \u201cFor the future and for this management in particular, they need to win a strong game of cricket here \u2026 that\u2019s not a two-dayer.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cFor this management to carry on, the likes of Ben and Baz \u2013 I\u2019m pretty sure they will carry on \u2013 but I think they need a good week for that to be absolutely rock solid. There\u2019s a huge appetite within the group to keep (McCullum) on. But fundamentally, if they get pummelled in Sydney, there needs to be some honest conversations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
England head into the SCG Test under pressure to avoid a heavy defeat, with Vaughan adding that the result is likely to shape the future of the Brendon McCullum\u2013Ben Stokes leadership combination. \u201cFor the future and for this management in particular, they need to win a strong game of cricket here \u2026 that\u2019s not a two-dayer.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe key is maturity and that\u2019s the one thing that I think this team can be a lot better at, in terms of the way they play and talk. If they can accept that, I have no problem with the management staying the same,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\r\n\r\n