image source, Getty Images
“Earlier I did two tours in India. In those eight Tests, I took only drinks to the ground. It was a long journey for me.’
As Usman Khawaja said this on Thursday evening, a sense of relief was evident on his face.
Usman Khawaja has had many ups and downs in his cricketing journey, scoring 180 runs at the biggest cricket ground in the world (Narendra Moti Stadium).
Born in Islamabad, Pakistan in 1986, Khawaja’s family moved to Australia when he was four years old.
Khawaja said in an interview that he has loved watching cricket since childhood.
He likes Pakistan team players like Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, Wasim Akram.
Khawaja likely due to Ponting injury
image source, Getty Images
Usman Khawaja and Ricky Ponting at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the 2011 Ashes
In 2011, the famous Ashes series was played between Australia and England.
Ricky Ponting, Australia’s key player, missed the last Test of the series in Sydney due to injury.
Usman Khawaja got a chance to play as one of the last 11 in his place. He entered the field in third place.
Usman Khawaja was the first Muslim player to play for Australia.
He scored 37 runs in the first innings of this match and 21 runs in the second innings.
However, Khawaja has been in and out of the team since then.
Khawaja’s Batting Achievements
image source, @UZ_KHAWAJA
Left-handed batsman Usman Khawaja has played a total of 59 Test matches.
He has scored more than four thousand runs at an average of 50.89. He has scored 14 centuries in Test cricket.
Talking about the current Border Gavaskar streak, Usman Khawaja is the highest run scorer.
He has scored a total of 333 runs in this series so far.
Earlier when the Australian team toured Pakistan, Khawaja showed his batting prowess.
He scored centuries in both innings of his ‘come back’ campaign. Khawaja has scored a total of 6 centuries since his reinstatement into the Test team in January this year.
The Australian team toured Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India in the last 12 months. In this, Khawaja scored runs at an average of more than 74.
Khawaja also created a unique record during his innings of 180 runs against India.
He faced a total of 422 balls in this innings. He was the first Australian batsman to face so many balls in an innings on Indian soil.
He has broken the record held by Graham Yalop in 1979.
Usman Khawaja, the pilot
image source, @UZ_KHAWAJA
Usman immigrated to Australia from Pakistan at the age of four. In this picture he is seen with his father
Apart from cricket, Usman Khawaja is also fond of flying airplanes.
He trained as an airline pilot at the Aviation School of New South Wales.
He is a trainee pilot. He has a pilot’s license.
In 2019, a video of him piloting the world’s largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, was released.
‘Flying the plane helped me a lot in cricket. I learned discipline. “I realized that whatever ups and downs life throws at me, I can overcome them and reach the top,” Khawaja said about his passion for cricket and aviation.
Article – Naveen Negi
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