Khawaja thinks he might not make it to the playing XI: There is hardly any doubt that the Aussie southpaw, Usman Khawaja has been in a sterling run of form this summer across all the formats of the game. But even after piling up a heap of runs, Khawaja knows pretty well that his place in the Baggy Green is yet not certain in 20-overs cricket. The Australian World T20 squad consists of four openers namely David Warner, Shane Watson, Aaron Finch and Khawaja.
David Warner has settled down well in the middle-order. Now, there is a big conundrum going on in the Australian camp regarding the two spots at the top for which there are three contenders. In the 3-match T20I series against South Africa, the Men in Yellow opted for different opening combinations in each of the matches. But Watson, Finch and Khawaja played a noteworthy cameo each in the series. And now, the Aussie think tank is left scathing its head as to who will open the innings in the opening World T20 encounter against New Zealand in Dharamsala on Friday, next week.
On this hot topic, Usman Khawaja stated, “We’ve got world-class players in our team. Finchy didn’t play today and he’s one of the best T20 players in the world, so we’ve got a lot of batting depth and strength.”
It is notable that Khawaja made his T20I debut against India, earlier this summer when Finch was nursing an injury. The Pakistani-born player further said that, “Finchy was there before I was, when I came into the team he was T20 captain. He’s been there and done it, I was the player coming in. I sort of expect him to come back into the team. Then Watto’s been such a great player for Australia, in particular with the white ball. His white-ball form lately has been great. He offers a lot with the ball too.”
Shane Watson had recently made a remarkable century against India in T20Is and his place at the top seems pretty certain considering he is very handy with the ball in hand as well. Talking about the impact of this competition among the openers on their personal equations, the 29 years old said, “The dynamics are pretty simple. We’re pretty good mates off the field. I’ve known Finchy since I was a kid, we’ve been playing cricket together since we were kids, we’re the same age. Obviously, I play with Watto at the Thunder so it’s a good relationship.”
It will be interesting to see who will open the innings for the Aussies in the World T20. As of now, it seems to be a good headache for any side to have players fighting up for their spots on the side. With a brilliant win in the 3rd T20I against South Africa, Australia secured the T20I series by 2-1.