Courtesy: Google
Australia opener Usman Khawaja looked dejected after facing the accusations of opting out of the Sheffield Shield match for Queensland against South Australia played at the Karen Rolton Oval. In the southpaw’s absence, Queensland settled for a draw in the game. Jimmy Peirson and Jack Wildermuth performed exceptionally for Queensland with their knocks of 128 and 104 respectively. Their innings helped Queensland post a score of 370 in the reply to South Australia’s mammoth 614/7. Khawaja, who was absent from the playing XI, has come up with the reason why he didn’t feature in his domestic team’s playing XI.
Appearing in a 17-minute press conference in Brisbane, Khawaja looked emotional and countered Queensland Cricket General Manager Joe Dawes' claims that he wasn’t aware of the opener's hamstring injury. Dawes had said, "It's just disappointing he didn't play a game for Queensland when he had an opportunity to." Along with Dawes, Queensland Cricket board member Ian Healy had also remarked, "It's just this pick and choose mentality that has been evident in his later years that Queensland haven't been happy with."
Reacting to both comments, Khawaja said, "There's a lot of misinformation being thrown around. The most disappointing thing was, I try to keep this as in-house as possible behind the scenes. It's obviously not anymore. Joe Dawes came out the other day and said a few inflammatory things, which was really disappointing to me as a player, and after that, I just felt like I had to speak up and say something, and give my side a story."
Khawaja will be available for Sheffield Shield final on March 26
Khawaja said he will be making a presence in Queensland’s playing XI against South Australia in the Sheffield Shield final in Adelaide on March 26. The left-handed batter played a pivotal role in Australia’s Test series win against Sri Lanka, smashing 295 runs with a ton in three innings of two matches.
The Aussies whitewashed the home side by 2-0 before their crucial assignment against South Africa in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final to be played from June 11 at the iconic Lord’s. Australia will be defending their Test mace and Khawaja’s responsibility will be to provide quality starts to defending champions against the Proteas.
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