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Khawaja ready to work for Test recall

3 minute read

Dumped midway through the Ashes series, Usman Khawaja returns to domestic cricket and will revert to a tried and tested formula to regain his Australian spot.

USMAN KHAWAJA of Australia celebrates after reaching his century during the Fifth Test match in the 2017/18 Ashes Series between Australia and England at SCG in Sydney, Australia.
USMAN KHAWAJA of Australia celebrates after reaching his century during the Fifth Test match in the 2017/18 Ashes Series between Australia and England at SCG in Sydney, Australia. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

One thing which has never been in doubt in Usman Khawaja's stop-start Test career is his resilience.

The 32-year-old begins his domestic summer on Sunday for Queensland's one-day cup match against Victoria in Melbourne.

Once again, Khawaja's ambition for the next few weeks will be forcing his way back into Australia's line-up after his axing during the Ashes.

It's a scenario the Bulls' skipper is all too familiar with, having had to recover from being dropped several times in his 44-Test career.

"It's about keeping things really simple," Khawaja said.

"I'm only going to be concentrating on what I can do for Queensland at this stage.

"As an individual, if I'm doing the right things, yeah, obviously there's higher honours still at stake but, for me, it's not about concentrating about that.

"If I'm not scoring runs for Queensland, if I'm not helping them win cricket games - the rest won't happen."

Sunday's match against the Bushrangers and a second game at St Kilda on Tuesday come after Khawaja's break from the Bulls' first two matches of the tournament following his return from England.

Despite not being in the XI for the final two Tests of the Ashes, Khawaja said he was thrilled to play his role in helping Australia retain the urn for the first time on English soil since 2001.

"It was massive. It was huge," Khawaja said.

"Obviously disappointed to not be playing but I felt like I was still playing pretty well.

"I felt like I was in a good place and disappointed to not play but, at the same token, I wasn't going to drag any of my teammates down."

After the two one-day clashes with Victoria, Khawaja and the Bulls begin their Sheffield Shield campaign against NSW from October 10 at the Gabba.

The left-hander said it was a smart option abandoning the month-long one-day tournament used in the past six years and once more combining the schedules for the 50-over and four-day games.

"It's good for everyone in Australian cricket to be playing white-ball cricket and red-ball cricket and getting used to coming out of formats," he said.

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