It was a remarkable knock from veteran batter Usman Khawaja, who put on 179 for the fifth wicket with WA allrounder Cameron Green (Photo: cricket.com.au)
It’s been a remarkable return to the Australian side for superstar batter Usman Khawaja, who also enjoyed working with one of Australia’s brightest talents.
It was a second hundred for Khawaja on return to the test arena, scoring his second hundred of the match on Day Four. He became the sixth player to score twin hundreds in an Ashes match, also becoming the third to do so at the SCG.
Khawaja combined well with young all-rounder prodigy Cameron Green, putting on the highest partnership so far this Ashes series of 179 runs.
He said to media post game that during that partnership, he was looking to give him support and reassurance throughout.
“I was giving him key pointers and he was executing beautifully,” Khawaja said.
“Nothing more than that I was trying to help guide him through his innings and then once he got to about 30 he took it over himself.”
Khawaja added that he mainly gave him pointers at the start of his innings.
“You can tell he’s a little bit nervous at the start and I was trying to give him reassurance on what he needs to do, but make sure he kept his intent high because just like any other batter we play when we’re intense there,” Khawaja said.
“It’s really hard when you’re in the middle, your brain’s ticking at 100 million miles an hour, I’ve been there before.”
“Sometimes you need your partner at the other end to reassure yourself about what you’re trying to do and the options you want to take.”
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He’s been on the receiving end of some of his knocks for Western Australia in a Queensland shirt. He’s averaged 99.8 against them in his last eight innings against them, with Khawaja believing he can do it at the highest level.
“I’ve seen the way he is and there’s no difference, he can do it at test level, he just needs a bit of time, it’s not easy, test cricket’s tough work.”
Khawaja has also been happy with Green’s bowling performance so far this series.
“He’s bowling beautifully and that’s a bonus, I think even he knows it,” he said.
“Loves batting and every time he goes out to bowl when he gets wickets it’s a bonus for him, it’s a bonus because he bowls 140km plus when he comes in and bowls.”
He added that if he’s treated rightly, then he can become a weapon in the future.
“For him to develop he needs to play cricket, go overseas and experience playing on different wickets,” Khawaja said.
“If you do that and invest in these players at a young age, it’s something we haven’t done as well in the past, chopping and changing a lot, you’ll reap the rewards later down the track.
“We saw it with Steve Waugh, I think the same can be said about Cam Green.”
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