Usman Khawaja looking towards the future after tumultuous 4 months in India

Usman Khawaja, the talented southpaw of Pakistani descent playing for Australia was in India for four months. However, Usman was extremely unlucky. He didn’t get a game in these four months and was sidelined for all of these four months. He first toured India with the Australian side for the Test series. Later stayed to play in the IPL for the Rising Pune Supergiant.

He was sure about getting a game in the IPL as many of the stars were returning home but was unlucky again. The Queenslander was in the squad of the runners up Rising Pune Supergiant. The team was extremely successful throughout the campaign. He said that the Indian players kept coming through and batted extremely well.

On the IPL

“We had some really good Indian players batting really well – (MS) Dhoni, Manoj Tiwary was playing really well – we had ‘Smudger’ (captain Steve Smith) batting up the top there and (Ajinkya) Rahane opening the batting with Rahul Tripathi, another youngster you came out of nowhere batting beautifully. It was disappointing not to play but it was really good to be part of a winning side,” explained Khawaja while talking to cricket.com.au.

He was very sure about getting at least one game in the IPL but it was not the case. He tried talking to the coach Stephen Fleming as well but nothing worked. “I was sure I was going to get a game in the IPL later on (in the season) because I knew a few guys were leaving,” he said.

“I talked to ‘Flem’ (Pune coach Stephen Fleming) too and he was like, ‘Just stay ready. These guys are leaving, later on, anything can happen. Stay ready because you’re likely going to play later on’, Khawaja exclaimed.

On Steve Smith’s glove changing antics

Usman was the 12th man in almost every game his team played. He had to do a lot of running but he remembers his captain Steve Smith changing gloves after every two overs. Khawaja revealed something hilarious.

He said, “I reckon I change my gloves once every session, max. People probably line up to be my glove runner because they’d have a very easy life. ‘Smudger’ (Steve Smith), he changed his gloves after two overs in the last Test in Dharamsala.”

“He went in there, he played the next over, and then he changed his gloves. It wasn’t even two overs I reckon. It was unbelievable, I’ve never seen anything like it. He averages 60 in Test cricket, maybe there’s something to it,” Khawaja said.

On his banter with Zampa

Adam Zampa and Khawaja played for the same team in the IPL and both of them had to sit the majority of the season on the bench. However, they did engage in some banter as Khawaja joked about knowing where every gym in India is.

“There’s been a lot of drink carrying in India. I was laughing with (Pune teammate Adam) Zampa because he wasn’t playing a lot of the IPL too. We were doing gym sessions on match days and he was always asking where the gyms were at each venue,” he revealed.

“We got to another venue and I’d point out the gym. Another venue, same thing. He asked me how I knew where all the gyms were and I told him ‘I know where every gym in India is – match days I’m in there a lot’,” Khawaja told cricket.com.au.

He is in the standbys for the Champions Trophy and is keeping a close eye on the squad. Any chance and he is ready to hop into the team.