In the fourth and final Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Usman Khawaja of Australia has been outstanding. The 36-year-old kept his composure and helped Australia be in control against an elite Indian bowling lineup despite losing two early wickets in Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne.
Notably, he has played outstanding batting throughout the entire series, but in the fourth Test, the cricketer joined the select group of Australian openers who have scored 150 runs in a Test match in India. In 1956 in Mumbai, Jim Burke became the first Australian player to open for a team; Graham Yallot followed in 1979 in Kolkata. Prior to Khawaja joining the list and becoming the first cricketer to accomplish this feat in more than 20 years, Matthew Hayden had scored 203 runs in the 2001 Kolkata Test, the previous record.
I was informed that I couldn’t play spin, which is why I was never given the chance to compete in India: Khawaja.
It’s interesting that Usman Khawaja, despite being one of Australia’s most reliable players recently, was never given the chance to play Test cricket in India. He was eventually able to prove himself by batting brilliantly in the middle during the current series after being called up.
When questioned about why he was never given the chance to play Test cricket in India, the seasoned batter admitted that for a significant portion of his career, he was told that he couldn’t play spinners well enough and that’s why he was never considered.
“Throughout the middle of my career, I was told that because I couldn’t play spin, I would never have the chance to play in India. As quoted by NDTV, Khawaja said after scoring a century, “It’s just nice to go out there and tick off a hundred in India, which was something if you asked me five years ago, I would think you were crazy.
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