Michael Hussey comes out in support of the struggling Usman Khawaja

Former Aussie skipper Michael Hussey has come out in support of left handed opener Usman Khawaja who is currently struggling with his form. The batsman had a dismal outing in the first Test against Bangladesh as he managed to score just two runs in the match, one in each innings. However, Michael Hussey has stated the Usman Khawaja needs to be dealt with patience.

Khawaja’s poor performance in the first Test saw his poor average in Asia go down even more to a shameful 14.62.  Hussey claimed that Khawaja deserves some time to adapt himself to the speed of the game after making his Test comeback. Khawaja’s last test came in the month of January after which the Australians decided to go with Shaun Marsh for the Test series against India.

Hussey asked people to not judge the batsman by these two knocks as he is made a return after a significant amount of time. Hussey also pointed out that Khawaja fell victim to a run out in one of those and he will require some time to settle in. Hussey also cited the example of Nathan Lyon and pointed out that the board has supported him through his rough times. Hussey demanded Khawaja be treated in a similar way which will ultimately be fruitful for the Aussies.

Give Khawaja time

“You shouldn’t be judging someone on a couple of innings, and in one of those innings he [Khawaja] was run-out. He hasn’t played any cricket for so long, so it’s going to take time for him to get back in and get up to speed with that match hardness. Even in the IPL he just sat on the bench the whole time, so it’s difficult and it’s going to take a little bit of time,” Hussey told cricket.com.au.

“I know there’s going to be doubters out there but (Khawaja is) a quality player. He’s class, and if you show the faith, show that you believe in him, you’ll get the best out of him. If you start chopping and changing, and sending those messages that you’re not backing him, then you’re going to get these inconsistent performances.” he said.

“And it’s shown with someone like Nathan Lyon – he throughout his career has had a lot of doubters, but the selectors have shown faith in him over a period of time and believed in him, and look at him now; he’s repaid that in spades. I think Usman Khawaja is in the same boat: we know he’s a good player, we know he’s got class, (so) just show that belief and faith in him and he will repay it in spades, I promise you,” Hussey said.