Khawaja bewildered but grateful to get ODI chance

CRICKET: Unwanted in Australia’s one-day team for almost two years, Usman Khawaja has had plenty of time to reflect on what he’s done wrong but still doesn’t have an answer.

He doesn’t know what he’s done differently either to suddenly get a recall for the threematch series against India, which starts at the SCG today, but he’s not complaining.

At 32, he knows he’s been given a fresh chance to re-establish himself as a limited-overs international – and with the giant carrot of a spot at the World Cup at stake, he’s happy to let bygones be bygones.

Asked why he thought he’d been left out for so long, Khawaja (pictured) said yesterday: “I’m not sure, to be honest. I’m not a selector.

“Probably there’s lot of reasons, but I’m not sure ... you just have to keep performing and scoring runs and hopefully get your chance, so I’m just very grateful to be representing Australia again.”

His modest statistics do offer a few clues. In his 18 previous ODIs, the left-handed batsmen averaged just 31.26 at a strike rate of 82.28 with no hundreds.

He’s also suffered from the perception he’s better suited to the longer formats of the game, a notion he says is baseless.

“I think I’ve performed well enough in white ball cricket over the last few years ... they’re all very different, they all present different challenges,” he said.

Khawaja will bat today at No. 3, his preferred position.

With Steve Smith and David Warner expected to be rushed back in as soon as their bans are lifted, he is among a handful of batsmen pushing for the remaining spots in the World Cup squad.