"I've had my ups and downs" - Usman Khawaja reflects on his career ahead of his 50th Test for Australia
Usman Khawaja will represent Australia for the 50th time in Test cricket on June 29 as the ICC World Test Championship series between Australia and Sri Lanka gets underway in Galle.
Ahead of the first game of this two-match series, Khawaja posted a special carousel on Instagram with pictures from his debut Test to the most recent one. Informing fans about his milestone Test, Khawaja reflected on his career thus far and thanked his friends and family for their support, captioning the post:
"Absolutely privileged to be playing my 50th test tomorrow. I've had my ups and downs throughout the journey. But Alhamdulillah even 1 test was plenty. Love to all my family and friends who have supported me. Couldn't have done it without you."
Khawaja was born in Islamabad, Pakistan, but he represents Australia at the international level. The left-handed batter has played 49 Tests for the Aussies, scoring 3,638 runs at an average of 47.24.
The 35-year-old has recorded 12 centuries and 16 half-centuries in a fabulous Test career. His highest score is 174, while his batting strike rate has been 50.75 in the longest format of the game.
Usman Khawaja made a comeback to the Australian Test team earlier this year
As Khawaja mentioned in the caption of his post, he has witnessed many ups and downs in his career. Fans should note that the left-handed batter could not find a place in the Australian playing XI during 2020 and 2021.
He earned a call back into the team in 2022 before cementing his place with some stellar batting performances. Khawaja has scored 751 runs in five Tests this year at a fantastic average of 125.17.