Australia’s star opening batter Usman Khawaja gave Australia the upper hand by scoring a well-composed century for Australia, which is the first hundred by an Australian batter in this series. Khawaja has been the top scorer for Australia in this four-match series and has been the most consistent batter for the visitors.
Usman Khawaja continued from where he left off on Day 1 as he eventually reached his 150 runs which registered him in the history books. Khawaja became the second Australian Test opener in the 21st century to register 150 in India.
Besides, Khawaja made the record for most balls faced in a single inning by an Australian batter on Indian soil, going past former Australian batter Graham Yallop.
Usman Khawaja became only the 4th Australian opener to score 150+ runs in a Test match in India. And he became the first player to achieve this since former Australian Opener Matthew Hayden, who last scored 150+ in India during the 2001 series. Khawaja has been in purple-patch red-ball cricket in 2022 where he finished the year with 1,080 runs at 67.50.
At the time of writing the report on Day 2, Usman Khawaja got out after scoring fantastic 180 runs with Australia scoring past 400 runs and Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowler. He picked up three wickets on Day 2.
Usman Khawaja Has Been a Standout Batter In The Series – Wasim Jaffer
Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer praised Usman Khawaja for his fantastic knock against India in the fourth and final test against India. Speaking to Espncricinfo, Jaffer said Usman Khawaja has been the standout batter in this series barring his twin failure in the 1st test. He lauded Khawaja for his calm and composed innings.
“Usman Khawaja, since that first Test match, has been the standout batter in the series. He showed his class and played beautifully. He played the whole day for his hundred and you’ve got to give it to his patience and persistence,”
Jaffer also stressed that India made a tactical error in the bowling, by coming around the wicket for Australian batters, particularly for Usman Khawaja who usually likes to play onside,
Usman Khawaja has shown remarkable patience. Apart from Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green also had a fantastic outing with the bat in the 1st innings. The highly-rated youngster scored his maiden Test ton and had a partnership of 208 runs with Khawaja. Khawaja includes an average of forty in all five Asian countries.