"You just move on and push on" - Usman Khawaja insists all is fine between him and Steve Smith
Australian Test opener Usman Khawaja dismissed reports of a rift with teammate Steve Smith after a mix-up that led to the latter's run-out on day one of the first Test against Sri Lanka. Khwaja said that players tend to move on and look to the future when such things happen.
Smith departed for a single-figure score on day one of the ongoing Test. After a ball struck him on the pad, both players set off for a run before Khawaja turned around. The vice-captain dived to reach the striker's end but could not make it in time and stormed off the field fuming.
Usman Khawaja this year in Tests: 822 runs at an average of 117.42 🔥 https://t.co/lRZt4LM8f0
Meanwhile, Usman Khawaja, who perished for 71 off 130 balls on day two, admitted Smith's disappointment on losing his wicket. However, he insisted that nothing happened between them off the field, saying, as quoted by Perth Now:
"Yeah, he did look annoyed. There's nothing really to report. There wasn't really too much to it. We're both professional cricketers. Stuff on the field of play happens, and you just move on and push on. You're always just looking to the future. If you're looking to the past, it doesn't help anyone; there's not really much to report."
Meanwhile, Usman Khawaja has continued his rich vein of form since returning to the team during the fourth Ashes Test this year. The Pakistan-born Australian batter crossed fifty for the seventh time in ten innings since his recall. Khawaja was the 'Player of the Series' in Australia's series win in Pakistan earlier this year.
"I was just enjoying the challenge out there" - Usman Khawaja
Usman Khawaja, 35, noted how some deliveries behaved on the Galle wicket as he relished the challenge of batting on that track. He said:
"I was just laughing because of what the balls were doing, everything that was going on for me was quite funny. It's the kind of wicket you practice on back home and think, I am probably never going to get wickets like that."
He added:
"I was just enjoying the challenge out there; there's not much you can do other than have your areas and try and score runs. There are going to be balls that do some random stuff, and you just have to laugh it off."
"One of the toughest wickets I've played on" - Usman Khawaja says Cameron Green showed a lot of courage in his crucial knock of 77 on day two in Galle #SLvAUS
READ: cricketa.us/3OV4zsa https://t.co/izRRfAUZCl
At stumps on the second day, the tourists reached 313-8 after bowling out Sri Lanka for 212 on day one. All-rounder Cameron Green has top-scored for the visitors with 77..