Khawaja takes latest snub in his stride

USMAN Khawaja says he has been dropped enough to mean the latest Test snub will not hurt his confidence before the Ashes.

The Queensland captain was disappointed to be given one game to prove himself on spinning wickets in Bangladesh.

But, fresh off a big hundred in Brisbane club cricket, the left-hander says he is in a good frame of mind for the domestic season, starting with the Bulls’ one-day competition opener against the CA XI next Friday.

Khawaja’s sporadic 24-Test career has featured two gluttonous summers in Australia, but has been stalled by recent snubs in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh.

He went almost eight months without representing his country in any format before being recalled to the side in Dhaka, only to be dropped after one Test.

“It’s definitely given me plenty of experience of being dropped,” Khawaja said. “In for one game in Bangladesh and a couple in Sri Lanka then going out again; it’s not ideal, never easy and never fun. The games I have missed out on have been the highest run-scoring games, which has been disappointing sitting on the sidelines, but that’s just how it is.”

Tipped to return for the first Ashes Test at the Gabba in November, Khawaja says he has learnt to roll with the punches.

“That stuff doesn’t motivate me and it’s not really [a chip on my shoulder],” he said. “All that stuff is out of my control and I know from past experiences the more you harp on it the worse it gets.”

Khawaja scored 162 and 79 at the weekend for Brisbane club Valley to show he had not suffered.

“I felt pretty good on the weekend and I’ve never been the kind of guy who needs to hit a lot of balls,” he said.