USMAN Khawaja is once again flourishing at the top of the order for the Australian Test team.<\/p>\n
After a lengthy hiatus away from the XI, the 35-year-old made a successful return to the side in the fourth Ashes Test at the SCG in January of this year.<\/p>\n
Posting scores of 137 and 101 not out in both innings, Khawaja was then selected for the Australian tour of Pakistan.<\/p>\n
In the Pakistan tour, the left-hander was the highest run-scorer in the series with a total of 496 runs which earned him the player of the series award.<\/p>\n
When initially dropped from the Test team in 2019, Khawaja says he wasn\u2019t deterred by the decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been enjoying my cricket for a while, even since I last got dropped from the Australian cricket team I went back and played for Queensland and I was really enjoying that time,\u201d Khawaja told SEN Test Cricket<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be back here has been fun, I\u2019ve been able to score a few runs but we\u2019ve been playing some really good cricket too and winning lots of games which always helps.\u201d<\/p>\n Khawaja, who kicked off his summer of cricket on last week after making a gritty 65 runs, said the West Indies\u2019 bowling attack was disciplined in the opening sessions.<\/p>\n Both he and fellow Queenslander Marnus Labuschagne had to be patient as the Windies bowlers remained assertive.<\/p>\n \u201cIt sucks for the batsman [getting clogged down] because you want to score runs and you want to do it freely but sometimes you have to put your pride and ego out of the way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cMe and Marnus pretty much did that for the whole first session, it got a little bit easier in the second session but they still [the West Indies] bowled relatively well and then obviously I missed out in that last session but Marnus did [play] and he certainly cashed in.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could almost say he is due the way Marnus plays, he is a terrific player who you know is going to score runs at some stage so it was great to see.<\/p>\n \u201cHe batted beautifully yesterday and it\u2019s nice to see a smile on his face because he deserves it because he works extremely hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Labuschagne brought up his second double century shortly before lunch on Day 2.<\/p>\n Another player who was able to reap the rewards of Khawaja and Labuschagne\u2019s early resistance was Steve Smith, who was able to cruise to 50 runs from only 75 balls.<\/p>\n Khawaja said that he thinks the former Test captain may just be in for yet another big summer.<\/p>\n \u201cEven before the start of the match you could just tell that he was comfortable with how he was batting, I don\u2019t what happens in the mind of Steve Smith but he is the best Test cricketer I\u2019ve played with,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cHe looked really comfortable before coming out in this game, when you see that in Steve Smith then you almost know that he is going to score runs.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t say that for many players because this game is bloody tough but when Smithy is feeling good before a game you can almost lock him in.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith knocked a century late in the first session of play on day two.<\/p>\n After this two-match series against the West Indies, the Australians will then host South Africa before heading to India to play in the sub-continent, with a potential World Test Championship next year along with an Ashes series.<\/p>\n In what will be one of the biggest years of Australian cricket, with Khawaja stating that he is embracing what is to come in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cPersonally I don\u2019t look too far ahead because it is always one innings after the next but at the same time I\u2019d be lying if we didn\u2019t all as a team have one eye on the bigger picture,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can do well this summer, play well in India, get to the World Test Championship which is massive and then there\u2019s a massive Ashes series coming up too which I know a lot of the boys still have the hunger to win that.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n