Khawaja has more to offer ahead of big Ashes series while also talking about grooming newbie partner Sam Konstas.
Australia opener Usman Khawaja has more to offer and claims he has plenty more cricket left in him.
Although Usman Khawaja is certain he has more to offer and sees a big role for himself in helping develop Sam Konstas when he returns to Test cricket against the West Indies, he won’t remain too long in the Australia squad.
Prior to his career-best double-century against Sri Lanka earlier this year, Khawaja’s form was in the news again after he failed twice against Kagiso Rabada in the World Test Championship final. After the difficulties presented by Jasprit Bumrah last season and New Zealand’s quicks earlier in 2024, that continued a trend of low returns against fast bowling.
Khawaja, Australia’s top scorer overall and the second-highest-scoring opener in the most recent WTC cycle after Yashasvi Jaiswal, maintains his longer-term record and thinks any decline is more a result of his position in the team during a period when top-order batting has proven to be difficult. He has averaged 25.29 against pace since the beginning of 2024, which is just slightly less than the 27.84 global average for all openers, but he averages 65.80 against spin.
“I can’t understand how I can [have a problem against seam bowling] if I can score so many runs in [Sheffield] Shield cricket or be the highest run-scorer for Australia in the WTC cycle,” he said in Barbados ahead of the opening Test. “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 wish I could face more spinners, but you don’t always get that opportunity. So, I’m facing the new-ball bowlers with the new ball every single time. I went back from Sri Lanka to domestic cricket and scored a hundred against Tasmania. I pretty much faced seam the whole time there [and] against Riley Meredith, who is one of the fastest bowlers in the country.”
“I understand I’m 38 years old. People will be looking for an excuse. [But] I think I’ve got a role to play: open the batting, starting off, and setting a good platform for Australia.”
Steven Smith, Nathan McSweeney, Konstas, Travis Head, and, most recently, Marnus Labuschagne in the WTC final have been Khawaja’s opening partners since David Warner retired in early 2024. In their 41 innings together at the top, Khawaja and Warner developed a rapport that includes a sixth sense of one other’s thoughts, according to Khawaja.
“I knew when and where he was going to drop and run a quick single, and I was ready for it” – and hoped to start forging something similar with Konstas in the West Indies with an eye to the Ashes.
“With young Sammy coming in, it’s an added role [for me],” he said. “To help Sammy along through his journey, trying to impart as much knowledge as I can. I won’t be around forever. But it’s very important that I can do whatever I can, obviously first and foremost, [to] have a solid partnership between us but then bit of stability at the top [and] also guide him through this journey. He’s still very young, he’s a 19-year-old boy, and it’s quite exciting.”