He has had the best seat at the other end of the 22 yards watching David Warner in full flow and no wonder Usman Khawaja wants Australian team to give his opening partner a fitting farewell with a T20 World Cup triumph. Warner is set to retire from international cricket once Australia’s campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup concludes, which Khawaja loves to believe will only be after winning the coveted final. “As a friend, I’d love to see him (Warner) finish on a high. He’s been playing some really good cricket. It’s been really nice to see. You can tell he’s just enjoying being out there. He’s playing pretty relaxed. So he should. Yeah, it would be good to see,” Khawaja told PTI Videos in an interview ahead of Australia’s last Super 8s match against India.
The veteran Australia opener is confident that a shock defeat against Afghanistan won’t stand in the way of Mitchell Marsh’s team winning the T20 World Cup for the second time since 2021.
Even if Australia lose to India in their last Super 8s match in Gros Islet on Monday evening (India time), Afghanistan will then have to meet improbable equations in order to beat them in net run-rate. “If Australia beats India and makes it to the semi-final, I think definitely, I think they can win. I think we’ve just got to get to the semi-final,” Khawaja said.
He spoke about Australia’s ability to lift their game at the knock-out stages.
“I think we’ve shown over the years that we’re a great knockout team. As soon as there’s a knockout situation, more times than not we’ve won, but we’ve just got to get there.” Khawaja praised Marsh for his leadership skills and his captaincy is a reflection of the kind of person he is.
“I think his captaincy is just him. It’s him as a person. He doesn’t try to be anything that he’s not. He’s relaxed. He goes out and plays the game, takes the game on, leads from the front, leads by his actions. So, I’ve really enjoyed watching his captaincy,” he said.
The 37-year-old Pakistan born batter, who has played 73 Tests for the ‘Baggy Greens’, also said that no team is invincible but acknowledged that India will be tough to get past.
“I mean, India’s always a threat. They have batters left, right and centre. They have great bowlers. They have excellent spinners. They have literally all bases covered. They always have. I wouldn’t go out and say India’s so far ahead, a better team than everyone else, because they’re not.
“So I think on any day, any team can beat anyone, particularly in T20 cricket,” he observed.
On Australia’s forthcoming series against India and the home Ashes in 2025, Khawaja termed both as pinnacle of cricketing contests.
“It’s always tough to beat India in India. But in the last couple of series, India has beaten Australia in Australia, which is never nice for an Australian. So, yeah, we’ve got a lot to play for. It’s a big series. To me, England and India are the two biggest series,” he exclaimed. PTI HN KHS Khawaja concluded by reflecting on the enduring popularity of Test cricket in Australia and the new golden ticket initiative taken by cricket Australia. “The baggy green is still the pinnacle of Australian cricket. I think we’re very lucky in Australia. I still think we get paid really well to play Test cricket. It’s not the same across the world. So, it’s a little bit different for us. We don’t have to try as hard. Because we have a long-standing tradition. And kids that grow up these days still want to get a baggy green,” he noted.
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