"I haven't bothered asking, to be honest" - Usman Khawaja not desperate to play white-ball cricket again for Australia
Star Australian batter Usman Khawaja has declared he is not thinking about a white-ball recall and is happy to play Test cricket. The left-hander admits it hurts getting dropped from the limited-overs squad despite faring well.
Khawaja hasn't donned colored clothing for Australia since the 2019 World Cup game against South Africa. Since David Warner's return from his one-year ban, the veteran has lost his spot at the top of the order.
He didn't get a recall in the white-ball series in Pakistan despite plenty of first-choice players missing it.
Usman Khawaja is the Man of the Match
"There's nothing like winning, especially against a really good Indian side. It was good to get my first ODI hundred, was out on 98 once before, so nice to get those two extra runs," he says
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When asked whether he wishes to play white-ball cricket again, Khawaja said he hasn't talked to the selectors about it as he was ignored in 2019 despite scoring a truckload of runs. Hence, the 35-year old left the decision to the selectors.
"I haven't bothered asking, to be honest. The last time I got dropped from the white-ball squad, I was averaging 50 and I think I was the second or third-highest run-scorer in that calendar year in white-ball cricket. After that happened, I stopped giving a crap about it, to be honest. If they want to pick me, they can pick me. If they don't, my head's not really there," the Pakistan-born cricketer said, as quoted by cricket.com.au.
The Islamabad-born cricketer indeed had a memorable year in ODIs in 2019. He slammed 1085 runs in 22 games at 49.32, scoring two centuries. He earned the man of the series award in Australia's away ODI series victory over India in early 2019 for accumulating 383 runs in five games.
"I'm still very fortunate that I get to play Test cricket" - Usman Khawaja
The Pakistan-born batter further claimed that he is fortunate to have opportunities in Test cricket and is not thinking about things that are out of his control. He added:
"I'm still very fortunate that I get to play Test cricket and for Queensland back home … if any of the other the other stuff comes up, I'd love to do it. I just don't really think about anything that I don't have right in front of me here and now."
It doesn't get much better than that from Usman Khawaja 👌
#PAKvAUS https://t.co/fOIEFrHdjW
The 35-year old returned to the Test team in the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney and hammered consecutive centuries in the game. He was integral to Australia's Test series victory in Pakistan, making two tons in three Tests.