"Made me really annoyed" - Usman Khawaja on Justin Langer dropping him from from ODI squad

Veteran Australian opener Usman Khawaja has called out former coach Justin Langer for dropping him from the ODI squad despite being one of their primary run-getters at the time. The left-hander revealed that the move to leave him out of the 50-overs side annoyed him.

Khawaja was recalled into the ODI squad for the home series against India back in 2019 and delivered promising performances. The veteran travelled to India for a return series and played an integral role in beating Virat Kohli and Co., scoring 383 runs in five games, including two centuries.

However, he was dropped shortly after the 2019 ICC ODI World Cup in England.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Khawaja said:

"I was angry at the time because I got dropped from the ODI side too when I was one of the leading run-scorers so it didn’t make sense to me why the selectors and JL dropped me. That’s what made me really annoyed."

Even with David Warner back in the squad for the 2019 World Cup, Khawaja was in the fold, scoring 316 runs in nine innings. He last played 50-overs international cricket against South Africa during the same World Cup.

"I know I’ll enjoy this much more" - Usman Khawaja on 2023 Ashes in England

Usman Khawaja also claimed that Australia are keen to win the Ashes in England, having not achieved the feat since 2001.

"I'd love to be part of an Aussie winning team in England because we haven’t done that for ages but for me, there’s more to life than that now," he said. "This tour is so different – I know I’ll enjoy this much more, whether we win or lose and whether I score runs or not."

Khawaja may slightly be concerned about his form after failing to produce the goods against India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Kennington Oval. The southpaw scored 0 and 13 across both innings.

However, Australia notched a comfortable 209-run win to lift the ICC Test mace.