Usman Khawaja

Head panned for 'soft dismissal' as damning stats expose pitch farce: Talking Points.

“At the moment it’s a lottery. Smith confessed he couldn’t remember a Test where he didn’t know what deck he’d be playing on a couple of days before the match. That’s the scoreline a good batting side will get in a Test match. We want to see the skill of the batsmen. You split the series up and my white-ball was really good, so maybe being a little bit more positive in red-ball cricket,” Head said. “He didn’t have to go over the top. The keeper was struggling to lay glove on it most of the deliveries. It’s more about luck because the surfaces are too one-sided between bat and ball.” That is a really soft dismissal for someone who can turn the game,” Haddin said on Fox Cricket. Khawaja was branded a home-track bully earlier in his career, unfairly deemed incapable of facing spin away from the comforts of home soil. The 29-year-old put down an absolute sitter in the sixth over, gifting Australian opener Travis Head an extra life on 7. Khawaja needed 146 deliveries to reach his fifty, passing the minor milestone late in the afternoon session.

Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja are grinding India into the dirt through two sessions in Ahmedabad, not losing a single wicket in the afternoon on their way ...

Head and Usman Khawaja (27n.o) passed the 50 partnership comfortably, but Head’s aggression proved his undoing, chipping an attacking drive to Ravi Jadeja at mid-on after advancing at Ravi Ashwin on 32. India looked edgy with the possibility of a drawn series still on the table after Australia’s remarkable comeback on the Indore dustbowl. Steve Smith (38n.o) and Usman Khawaja (65n.o) are grinding India into the dirt through two sessions in Ahmedabad, not losing a single wicket in the afternoon on their way to 2-149.

A classy Usman Khawaja century has steered Australia into the box seat in Ahmedabad after a late counterpunch from West Aussie Cameron Green stunned the ...

After a wayward start, including Shami bringing back memories of the 2006-07 Ashes series with his best Steve Harmison impression, bowling the first ball of the Test to second slip, the Indian bowlers were up and about as Travis Head squandered a bright start. After grinding for much of the day on a slow wicket, offering the least turn of any pitch throughout the series, the visitors finished with a flurry, Green feasting on the second new ball to get Australia to 4-255 at the close. It was Australia’s day to open the fourth and final Test with the visitors looking to draw the series and prove they can adapt to the sub-continent conditions after a disastrous start to the Border-Gavaskar series.

Usman Khawaja registered his first Test century against India, and 14th overall, to cap off a sensational day in Ahmedabad for Australia.

KS Bharat parried that one but otherwise had a nightmare start to the Test. [India won by an innings and 132 runs](https://live.cricket.com.au/match/3135/56735/india-men-vs-australia-men-india-v-australia-tests---men/scorecard) Hansdcomb arrived at the crease in the middle of a hostile Umesh Yadav bouncer barrage, but appeared equal to the task as he ignored the three fielders set in a leg-side trap and bisected them with consecutive pulled boundaries off what turned out to be the final two balls of his spell. He is on the verge of finishing a Test series (in which he has batted at least three times) without a half-century for the first time in his career. Shami, after his early waywardness, sharpened his radar to account for Labuschagne and Handscomb, both wickets coming with in the first overs of a new spell. A placid Ahmedabad surface allowed Khawaja (104no) to bat the entirety of day one while hardly taking a risk, as he posted an unbeaten century brought up in the final over of play with a trademark flick off his pads for four.

India vs Australia: Usman Khawaja hit his 14th hundred and first against India as Australia reached 255 for 4 at stumps on the first day of the fourth Test ...

It took Australia four Test matches for one of their players to finally score a hundred, but as has been well documented in the 2023 BGT, batting has not been the easiest task. While Khawaja continued to frustrate India with astute footwork, solid defence, and a penchant for punishing the loose balls, Green used his long stride to keep the Indian bowling attack at bay. It was an innings of immense patience and the purpose seemed to be to grind the Indian bowler in less than helpful conditions. That dismissal paved the way for a stubborn partnership between Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith who added 79 for the 4th wicket. [his first hundred against India](https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/cricket/story/ind-vs-aus-usman-khawaja-hits-his-14th-test-hundred-first-against-india-2344406-2023-03-09) and 14th overall to continue a great run in the series. After the defeat, Rohit Sharma defended the surface and said India were playing to their strengths even after his batsmen failed miserably against Australia's spinners.

Australia has won the toss and elected to bat first at the biggest cricket stadium in the world for the fourth and final Test in Ahmedabad, with plenty at ...

It’s been great to be able to play spinners and show that we can do it effectively.” Victory in the third Test was only Australia’s second in India since 2004 and Smith believes another to level the series would be an ideal finish. If you can’t see the blog click he was sort of like a sitting duck in many ways. It’s such a tricky balance.” “Looks like probably of the four wickets we’ve seen so far, potentially the flattest on day one. “It’s just playing what’s in front of us really, obviously the scores haven’t been big throughout this whole series. “It’s almost un-Australian. Newcomer Murphy has been economical and got Virat Kohli out three times. So yeah, there might be opportunities for bigger totals on this wicket.” It was wayward start for Indian seamers Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav, who bowled several deliveries down the leg side during their opening spell. Albanese stood alongside Australian captain Steve Smith during the national anthems. How much is it turning?

Tourists reach 255-4 after day one of fourth Test as opener's patient knock subdues home PM's pageantry.

India are desperate to bounce back from losing in Indore and to seal their spot in the World Test Championship final with a 3-1 series win. Khawaja and Travis Head (32) put on Australia’s best opening partnership of the series, 61, after Smith won the toss and batted first. The tourists went to tea at 149 for two, as Khawaja and acting captain Steve Smith (38) became the first pair from either team to bat through an entire session during this series.

Dropped, suspended or not selected at all on five tours of south Asia, Usman Khawaja had plenty of reasons to doubt himself.

“Getting a hundred now on top of some of the runs I’ve scored in the subcontinent, been told my whole life I couldn’t play in the subcontinent. I felt like I’ve been contributing the whole time and that’s been the most rewarding thing because I’ve been contributing to some wins. “Throughout the middle of my career, I got told I couldn’t play spin and that’s why I never got an opportunity to play in India. I was the only person to score a hundred there. Fortunately enough I’m quite stubborn, so went out of my own way to learn, then we had a couple of A-tours here in India, which helped a lot. Whether that was his coaches, selectors or the Australian public, it was a lonely place to be.

Usman Khawaja's mind was taken back to a time where he wasn't in Australia's line-up after achieving a lon...

Whether I was or wasn't – yes I'm a better player of spin now, no doubt about that, I have more shots, better defence – but I didn't really get the opportunity to learn at that early stage." "It wasn't our intention. I kind of enjoyed that warm-up, it's probably the best warm-up I've had. "It was a long journey trying to get a 100 in India. "I didn't really get the support from the people around me at the time. I was just watching at the other end and getting a single to let him on strike, but it was pretty good to watch." "They (Australia's coaches) all came up to me and told me this morning, 'This is going to be the favourite warm-up of your life', and I was like, 'I think you might be right'." "Just continue the process, just continue doing it as long as you can and keep helping the team out because I knew the longer I batted, the better it was for us." "I just went out the back, did a few run-throughs, stretched and then made sure I was ready for the game when it started. "I've got no superstitions (and) I don't really have much structure to my warm-up, I'm just a go with the flow kind of guy, so for me it was fine. "It was such a nice wicket (and) I just didn't want to give my wicket away," he said. "Plenty of times I wanted to hit them over the top, which is what I normally do in the subcontinent, but I just thought today you're going to have to try and get me out.

Usman Khawaja smashed the first century by an Australia batter in the current series against India to steer the tourists to 255 for four after the opening ...

Usman Khawaja hit a century to help Australia knock 255 for four on day one of the final Test [Australia](/sport/australia-cricket/index.html) batter in the current series against [India](/news/india/index.html) to steer the tourists to 255 for four after the opening day of the fourth and final test on Thursday. Usman Khawaja hits a vital century for Australia as the tourists make 255 for four on day one of the final Test against India - with Steve Smith's side set to post their highest score yet as they look to tie the series

Ahmedabad: A scintillating unbeaten century from Usman Khawaja helped Australia finish day one of fourth Test on a commanding 255/4 against India at the ...

Shami’s delivery on pads was tucked by Khawaja through square leg, while Green pulled and drove through mid-off to take two boundaries in the 85th over. In the first over with a new ball from Umesh, Green was comfortable in cutting and driving off him. The final session began with India’s persistence paying off as Steve Smith tried to push defensively off Ravindra Jadeja.

From being told he couldn't play spin to anchoring the innings in the deciding Border-Gavaskar Test, the Australia opener has come a long way.

[Steven Smith](https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/steven-smith-267192)'s pre-match [reading of the surface](https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/steven-smith-can-t-remember-being-unsure-two-days-out-of-a-test-which-pitch-i-would-be-playing-on-1362273)appeared astute. Peter Handscomb was then cleaned by during Shami's excellent post-tea spell when he was caught playing deep in the crease to a fuller delivery, a manner of dismissal familiar from his previous stint in Test cricket. There were even times when he held himself back, knowing that this was a day for the long game. Because India had held the scoring rate well for a long period, another wicket at this point would have turned the contest their way. [Twin centuries](https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-australia-2021-22-1263452/australia-vs-england-4th-test-1263465/full-scorecard)on his comeback, [a hundred](https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/australia-in-pakistan-2021-22-1288300/pakistan-vs-australia-2nd-test-1288311/full-scorecard)in his homeland of Pakistan and now this innings. There was a lot of emotion, I just never expected this to happen." "It was just a nicer batting wicket," he said. "I don't think I've ever smiled so much on getting a century, there was emotion in it, I've done two tours of India before, carried the drinks for eight Test matches before I got a chance here," Khawaja said. [Usman Khawaja](https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/usman-khawaja-215155)did a lot of batting. [496 runs at 165.33](https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?id=14344;type=series). This was different because the team that started the first day batting finished the first day batting. Across the three subcontinent tours in the last 12 months [he averages 74.16](https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/215155.html?class=1;continent=2;filter=advanced;orderby=start;orderbyad=reverse;spanmin2=01+Jan+2022;spanval2=span;template=results;type=batting;view=innings).

Early in his career Usman Khawaja was labelled a batter who couldn't play spin, but his record over the past 18 months has proven otherwise.

"I didn’t really get the support from the people around me at the time. "It was a self-fulfilling prophecy in its own way. "Getting a hundred now on top of some of the runs I've scored in the subcontinent, been told my whole life I couldn't play in the subcontinent – I do feel like that monkey went off my back when I scored that hundred in Dubai – (but) that was Dubai. "A lot of people talked about how flat the wickets were in Pakistan, and obviously I scored a lot of runs there (but) I was the only (Australian) to score a hundred there," said Khawaja. "I wanted to do it in the subcontinent." I don't think you can get much better than that." "I got an opportunity to play in a white-ball series a few years ago and was man of the series, got an opportunity here again with the red ball. "Went to Galle (to play Sri Lanka last year) in the first game on an absolute bunsen (burner – a turning pitch) and felt like I batted well there. "I felt like I've been contributing the whole time and that's been the most rewarding thing because I've been contributing to some wins. "Throughout the middle of my career I got told I couldn’t play spin and that’s why I never got an opportunity to play in India. As he likes to remind people, he scored a century against a strong India A attack in 2018 in Bangalore on an Australia A tour and then was player-of-the-series in an ODI series in India the following year. "Whether I was or wasn’t – yes I’m a better player of spin now, no doubt about that, I have more shots, better defence – but I didn’t really get the opportunity to learn at that early stage."

Usman Khawaja had arrived on his first tour of India with an outstanding year and a bit under his belt. He did his reputation great service by carrying on ...

Then he became the first Australian opener to score a Test hundred in India since 2010/11. Khawaja averages 42.83 in the series. By stumps, he had faced 251 balls, the longest innings of the series from either side. Not a huge score, but colossal when put in perspective of the Test match. In the second innings, he was part of Australia’s sweepathon folly. Still, after five collapses, what Australia needed after winning the toss was to bat out the day. The pitch was past its worst phase of the day. Travis Head edged at the other end and survived, and got out. And over the years, the pitches have become more and more difficult to bat on. The usual notion of giving the first hour to the bowlers is not always applicable to openers in India, for it is then that you face the finger-spinners, who have grown up learning their tricks with the SG ball on these pitches. He then made an unbeaten 195 in early 2023, his last innings before the India tour. They will also tell you that it was nothing close to a rank turner.

'Didn't feel they supported me': Khawaja takes aim at coaches, selectors after epic century.

Didn’t really feel like the team really supported me, didn’t feel like the coaching staff and selectors supported me through that journey. Shane Watson – then the vice-captain – was another to be banned from selection for that third Test in Mohali, something he called ‘extremely harsh’. “It was a self-fulfilling prophecy in its own way, because people started saying that, and perception is reality. “I didn’t get support from the people around me at the time. Part of that was due to the so-called ‘Homework-gate’. He added that in the middle years of his career, he felt a lack of support from his teammates and coaches.