Recall for Test offers Khawaja a fresh slate
UNWANTED in Australia’s ODI team for almost two years, Usman Khawaja has had plenty 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 three-match series starting against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground 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 in 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, he played a straighter bat than Cheteshwar Pujara did in stonewalling the Aussie bowlers during the Test series.
“I’m not sure to be honest, I’m not a selector,” he said. “Probably, there’s lot of reasons but I’m not sure.
“It’s always tough to play in any Australian team. 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 widely held perception that he’s better suited to the longer formats of the game, a notion he says is baseless.
Khawaja will bat today at No.3, his preferred position. He opened in the last Test against India and while he said he’s happy to bat wherever coach Justin Langer wants him, given a choice, he’ll take first drop every time.