In an era of thrills and spills, Usman Khawaja shows that the old-fashioned way works just fine
Legends who have played in the Ashes will tell stories about just how important the series can be, not only to the team and fans but to the players as well. Success in the old-age rivalry makes or breaks careers more often than not, and cricket, much like life, has a way of working in mysterious ways to even things out sooner rather than later.
Usman Khawaja is one of the best examples of the same. The elegant southpaw burst onto the scene for Australia in 2011, making a name for himself with his classy strokeplay as well as his ability to dig in and bat long hours, in the typically traditional sense.
Khawaja's batting, in more ways than one, was (and still is) a reflection of his personality. He almost always seems to form a bubble around himself to shut out the noise, looking like a picture of calmness that transcends the people around him.
That is precisely how it felt throughout the 796 minutes Khawaja batted in Edgbaston in the opening Test of the Ashes 2023, when he became only the 13th player to have batted on all five days of a Test match.
Khawaja's calmness cannot be mistaken for a weakness, though. In fact, it's anything but a weakness. It's a commitment to his resolute mindset and ironclad self-confidence, as someone who backs himself to get the better of any situation he is put into. And he's done that on quite a few occasions in his career.
Despite an impressive start to his international career, the 36-year-old has been through his share of ups and downs. The lowest of the lows came during the 2017-2018 Ashes series, when he struggled to make notable contributions and was eventually dropped from the side.
At that stage, some would probably give up on the possibility of a return to the Test side. But as stated earlier, cricket, like life, has a funny way of working itself out.
During the phase in 2018-2019, Khawaja managed to make his mark time and again with some crucial knocks against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. However, question marks around his game always remained, and it wasn't soon after that he found himself out of the side again, having been dropped midway through the Ashes that year.
Khawaja's ultimate turnaround only came last year, when he returned to the side after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus to score twin centuries against... you guessed it, England. As far as the veteran was concerned, he was "living the Australian dream."
Humble enough to acknowledge his background and realize that he's broken some barriers along the way, his twin centuries in Sydney were only the start of his redemption story.
Since then, Khawaja has scored five centuries, including his heroics in Birmingham that helped Australia clinch a memorable victory in the first Test. Three of those have come this year, against South Africa, India, and now England.
The fact that the classy batter went on to make significant tons isn't the only common feature in all these knocks. He also played over 300 balls in each of them, steadfastly holding one end down for his side.
The imperishable Usman Khawaja
Patience, calmness, and the ability to dig deep to battle it out in any situation. We've mentioned those as the personality traits of Khawaja that reflect in his batting.
When he's in the zone, he looks imperishable. The bubble he forms around himself seems impenetrable. Ollie Robinson found that out the hard way, when he tried to get under the Australian opener's skin on a couple of occasions.
Khawaja had a few words for him too, but his bat did most of the talking. With the game hanging in the balance at the start of Day 5, there was a sense of nervous anticipation for things to happen in the morning session. The Aussie had other plans, though.
He shut down one end, at times seemingly stuck in the middle, unable to get a move on. However, didn't bother him one bit. Speaking after the game, Khawaja mentioned how he wanted to shut the door on England and knew his team had a good chance of getting over the line if they batted throughout the day.
So that's exactly what Khawaja did. He held down one end in such fashion that even the crowd at Edgbaston were engulfed in that bubble. The usually bubbly Hollies' end was flat. The longer Khawaja batted, the more the nervousness crept in, keeping the crowd quiet.
This isn't how England go about their business. There's no attacking panache or intent. No thrills or spills. None of the things the term 'Bazball' entails. Only simple, effective, and traditional cricket. Playing to win, no matter how you get the job done.
In the ever-evolving era of cricket, where most teams are trying to think out of the box to find new ways to force results and get on the right side of them, Usman Khawaja is showing that the old-fashioned way works just fine for him and his side.