Dubai: Australia’s opening batsman Usman Khawaja on Monday said that he has not thought about the effect David Warner’s return will have on his own chances of getting selected for the Cricket World Cup 2019.
“It’s [World Cup] a long way away. For me, it’s [about] the next three games, [Warner’s return] is not something I have thought about at all. I am just enjoying playing one-day cricket,” International Cricket Council (ICC) quoted Khawaja as saying.
Khawaja was recalled for Australia’s home series against India in January after a gap of nearly two years and the left-hander grabbed the opportunity with both hands scoring six-fifty plus scores in his last ten innings, including two hundred’s. His terrific form adds to the selector’s headache as they try to fit in both Warner and Smith into the World Cup squad.
Australia’s captain Aaron Finch has been in spectacular form in the first ODI matches of the five-match series, scoring two consecutive centuries. Khawaja said that he and finch compliment each other really well and they share a good rapport among themselves.
“Finchy [hits] a lot straighter, hits the ball hard, and I sort of work it [around]. I think we just complement each other,” in Sharjah, we talked a lot just about the game situation, keeping each other calm. I guess at the start, I got off to a quick start when he [Finch] was sort of struggling to find rhythm early on, so I was going a bit harder,” Khawaja said.
“Once we got out of the Powerplay, the spinner came on with the wind. He took him on and hit him for a six, and you could just see him find his rhythm again. When he started finding his rhythm, I was just happy to give him strike. When Finchy is going, just let him go,” he added.
Australia are 2-0 up in the series, but Khawaja is wary of the fact that Pakistan can make a comeback in the series just like Aussies did in the series against India after being 0-2 down after first two matches.
“We saw in India they were 2-0 up and we came back to win that series. It is never quite over. We cannot take it easy now” Khawaja said. (ANI)
