He managed to score only six runs in the recent WTC 2025 Final.
After a poor show in the recently concluded World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 Final, veteran Australia batter Usman Khawaja has taken a dig at his critics ahead of the three-match Test series against the West Indies. The batter believes that he still holds the ability to contribute at the top of the Australian batting lineup.
“I’m not here for myself anymore. I’m here for the team. I could have stopped playing two years ago really. But I found that I was still contributing, still trying to be the best player for the team at that opening spot,” he said to ESPN Cricinfo.
After the retirement of the great Australian opener, David Warner, the team is still on course to find his replacement. Khawaja has also emphasised his responsibility to prepare a 19-year-old Konstas for the future.
Notably, the youngster made it to the headlines after his brilliant debut against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 series. However, Konstas is yet to make his place permanent in Australia’s playing XI as the team has tried different opening options in the form of Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne to pair with Khawaja in the recent red-ball matches.
“With young Sammy coming in, it’s an added role [for me]. I won’t be around forever. But it’s very important [to] have a bit of stability at the top but also guide him through this journey. He’s still very young and it’s quite exciting,” added Khawaja.
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However, the batter has also hit back at the criticisms regarding his weakness while facing the pace bowlers in recent times. He felt that it’s a mere excuse for people to question his place in the team’s combination. Notably, Khawaja has been dismissed twice by the South African seamer Kagiso Rabada on the scores of 0 and 6, respectively, in the WTC 2025 Final.
“I open the batting for Australia. So I get out to seam more than I get out to anyone else. It’s just part and parcel of the game. I understand I’m 38 years old. People will be looking for an excuse,” he stated.
Since his Test debut in January 2011, the opener has scored 5,936 runs in 81 matches, including 16 centuries and 27 fifty-plus scores in the format. However, Khawaja’s form started to decline since Australia’s two-match away series against New Zealand. His lean patch also continued against India at home in the latest BGT series, where he managed to score only one half-century in five matches.
But the veteran batter made a stunning comeback to notch up his first double-hundred in Galle against Sri Lanka. He put up 232 runs in the first innings of the opening match, which Australia went on to win by a huge margin of an innings and 242 runs. However, he couldn’t carry on with that momentum and has been seen to struggle in the recent red-ball fixtures.
The WTC 2025 runners-up, Australia, will kick off the new Test championship cycle for 2025-27, with their upcoming series against the West Indies on June 25. This will be followed by the much anticipated Ashes series at home against England. The five-match series will commence on November 21.
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