Khawaja down in the dumps

– Having been pulled out of Australia’s one-day team to prepare for India, then ignored by selectors for every match on the sub-continent, batsman Usman Khawaja (above) is guarded about his chances of winning a Test recall for the Ashes.

The stylish No 3 suffered a further blow on Thursday when he was left out of Australia’s one-day squad for next month’s Champions Trophy in England and Wales.

Being excluded from the nation’s formidable one-day team is nothing to be ashamed about given the batting riches at the selectors’ disposal.

However, the India snub was a bitter pill to swallow for a player who had averaged 66.75 in the preceding Test series against Pakistan after topping the runs list in their defeat by South Africa.

Rubbing salt into the wounds, Khawaja was left to carry the drinks during the four-Test series in India and watch his replacement Shaun Marsh manage only 151 runs at an average of 18.87 from his eight innings.

“The most frustrating thing for me was not to play those three ODIs in New Zealand,” Khawaja told Fox Sports.

“I got pulled out of that series to prepare for India and then not playing was a bit hard.”

The plain-spoken Khawaja has had a frosty relationship with the selectors in the past.

As Australia lurched to an emphatic defeat in Sri Lanka last year, he was axed, somewhat harshly, for the third and final Test along with fellow opener Joe Burns.

But Khawaja said there were no hard feelings from his India disappointment, with Lehmann having gone out of his way to let him down easily. – Reuters

Melbourne