Playing in India is Always a Nice Challenge - Usman Khawaja

Finally, one of the Australians found his Midas touch. The struggles of Australia furtherly stretched when their batsmen found it difficult to sustain at the crease after ball-tampering scenario. However, Usman Khawaja is back to his best who is scoring runs fluently in the ongoing Quadrangular series in India.

In the last match against Manish Pandey-led India B, Usman Khawaja scored a brilliant century to bail out his team from all sort of troubles. He finished the game by receiving the man of the match award.

I always liked playing in India – Usman Khawaja

The stylish southpaw furtherly added he loves to play in India irrespective of which format it is. Usman Khawaja quoted he loves batting here, as it gives nice assistance for the batsman to score runs freely.

Speaking of the challenge to face spin, he stated it is tricky, but he loves to come up against them. Usman Khawaja went on to talk about his place in the Australian team as well.

“There might be that perception out there about me in India. But even when I came the last series in the Aussie A one-day series in Chennai, I think I was the highest run-scorer for Australia in that too. I’ve always liked coming over to India and playing cricket here. I enjoy the white-ball stuff too because there’s a lot of reward for your shots here.

“It is a little bit different because there’s a bit more spin involved than back home – (where) there’s a lot of pace bowling. That’s always a nice challenge and something different,” Khawaja told reporters in Bangalore.

I am a bit experienced to play for Australia now – Khawaja

Speaking of his place in the national team, Khawaja added he played for the team when he was early in his career. He feels he can make the difference now with a lot of experience under his belt.

“I think early on in my career I just didn’t perform well enough to cement my position, especially in the Test side,” Khawaja said. It was a learning experience, coming back into the Test team three or so years ago. I’ve been a regular in the team since then,” he added.

“I’ve obviously performed a bit better, my mindset (has changed) and I’ve had a bit more experience under my sleeve. Cricket is a tough game, no matter who you are. Whether you’re Don Bradman or anyone else you’re always going to fail at some stage. It’s more about the mental battle. As much of a cliché as that is, it’s very important,” he inferred.

However, Usman Khawaja is set to play his last game in the Quadrangular series when Australia A takes on India B in the finals. Probably, Usman Khawaja made his mark to find a place in the series against Pakistan.