"Would have been better had he focused more on his batting" - Danish Kaneria on Australian opener Usman Khawaja

Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria recently stated that Australian opener Usman Khawaja should have concentrated more on his batting instead of giving statements to the media. Incidentally, the southpaw had a poor outing with the bat in the first Test against India in Nagpur.

While Kaneria did not mention Khawaja's comments that he was referring to, he stated that the player's focus should have only been on his batting ahead of the crucial Test series opener in Nagpur. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he remarked:

"Usman Khawaja made big statements ahead of the match. However, it would have been better had he focused more on his batting. He played a shot and then tried doing the same again. But Ashwin bowled in the same area and managed to take the edge this time around."

Khawaja had a disastrous start to the series. He was dismissed for just one run off Mohammed Siraj's bowling on Day 1. He endured yet another failure in the subsequent innings, falling to Ravichandran Ashwin after managing only five runs.

Kaneria also pointed out how Khawaja's opening partner David Warner also looked clueless against India's senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

"Poor David Warner was clueless," he added. "As soon as Ravichandran Ashwin came to bowl, he started looking towards the pavilion, as he knew that he is surely going to get him out once again. While Warner is a wonderful player, he has become Ashwin's bunny."

Warner was out LBW against Ashwin in Australia's second innings. It is worth mentioning that the swashbuckling opener has been out to the bowler 11 times in Test cricket. It proved to be a forgettable game for the southpaw as he returned with scores of 1 and 10.

"He should have used his fast bowlers when Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel were at the crease" - Danish Kaneria on Australian captain Pat Cummins

Danish Kaneria further stated that Australian captain Pat Cummins missed a trick by not utilizing his pace bowlers well in the Nagpur Test.

He feels that the Aussie skipper should have considered bringing his pacers on when Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel were batting. The former cricketer suggested that visitors erred tactically by relying too much on their spinners.

"It was poor captaincy," Kaneria elaborated. "He brought his spinners into the attack way too early. He should have used his fast bowlers when Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel were at the crease. It would have been better if he would have gone with a combination of pace and spin."

Jadeja and Axar stitched together an important 88-run partnership for the eighth wicket to put India in a commanding position on Day 2. Australia failed to put up a strong fight with the bat in their second innings and were bowled out for just 91 runs.

A splendid five-wicket haul in the second innings from @ashwinravi99 inspires #TeamIndia to a comprehensive victory in the first #INDvAUS Test 🙌🏻

Scorecard ▶️ bit.ly/INDvAUS-2023-1……

#INDvAUS | @mastercardindia https://t.co/wvecdm80k1

India beat Australia by an innings and 132 runs in the first Test to go 1-0 up in the four-match series. The second match will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, which commences on Friday, February 17.