The Ashes 2021-22 was a series of redemption for Australian batter Usman Khawaja, and he never looked back after getting his chances. After a brilliant Ashes, he became the designated test opener of the Australian side and proved his value in the subcontinent conditions as well.
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Ahead of the Ashes 2021-22, Usman was fighting for a place with Travis Head in the middle order, but Head won the battle. When Head got injured, Khawaja batted in the middle-order in the Sydney test, where he announced himself by scoring a hundred in both innings. After Head’s arrival, he was promoted to open the innings with David Warner.
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Khawaja had a tremendous 2022 with the bat, where he scored 888 runs in 7 test matches at 98.67 with the help of 4 centuries and 3 half-centuries. 160 was his highest score in 2022. With Australia set to travel to India next year, Khawaja will be one of the most important batters of the side.
Usman Khawaja aims to enjoy every remaining test in the upcoming summer
Usman Khawaja will be 36 this year, and he knows that he won’t be playing at the international level for long now. He said that he is now just enjoying the ride and considering every match as a bonus as he is not very far from his retirement. Khawaja said that he now does not care about how many more matches he will play.
Khawaja revealed that he was not expecting to play a single match last summer due to the crunch competition in the side, but he was happy with how things went in the last Ashes.
“I am enjoying the ride,” Khawaja told AAP.
“Every single Test match is a bonus for me because in my head I can see my Test career is just about over. It is a nice place to be.”
“If I am meant to play one more Test match or 20 or 30 … it just doesn’t matter to me anymore.”
Usman Khawaja on opening with David Warner
Usman Khawaja and David Warner are the lead openers of the Australian test team at the moment, and Warner has already hinted that he can announce his test retirement after the next Ashes. Khawaja said that he is batting with Warner since he was six years old, and Warner is more of a friend than a teammate.
Khawaja insists that both of them have seen their families grow old together, and he wished that both of them can stitch some more great partnerships in the upcoming series.
“I’ve batted with David since I was six years old and we have known each other for such a long time it is more like two mates going out there rather than just teammates,” Khawaja added.
