Usman Khawaja, on Thursday (March 9), led Australia’s charge with the bat once again to put them in a strong position in the ongoing fourth Test against India in the ongoing fourth Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The southpaw showed remarkable patience and was eventually rewarded for it with his maiden Test ton in India. It took him 146 deliveries to reach his 50 and 246 deliveries for the century. He crossed the triple digit mark in the final over of the day.
At the end of the day, he was unbeaten on 104. Usman Khawaja survived 251 deliveries on the day, making it the longest innings of the series to date. He also overtook Rohit Sharma to become the leading run-scorer in the series.
Usman Khawaja gets emotional:
The latest knock has further strengthened Usman Khawaja’s reputation as one of the best Test batsmen in the world at present. He has turn his career around in a remarkable fashion. The left-hander was branded a home-track bully earlier in his career. He averaged 14.62 in his first five Tests in Asia.
However, he has averaged 74.60 in 11 matches in Asia since and has arguably been the best batsman in the ongoing series. Since returning to Australia’s Test team last year, he has scored 1532 runs at 69.63 in 16 matches.
And the Australia opener could not control his emotions after scoring one of the finest centuries of his career so far. Speaking at the end of the day, Usman Khawaja recalled the previous tours of India where he struggled to get a game.
“There was a lot of emotion in that,” Khawaja said at stumps.
“I’ve been to India two tours before this, and I carried the drinks for all eight Test matches. It was a long journey.
“To finally get a hundred in India, as an Australian, that’s what you want to do, it’s what you want to tick off, so it’s very special,” he added.
Also Read: IND vs AUS: What Looks Like A Pitch From… – Sanjay Manjrekar On Ahmedabad Pitch