Usman Khawaja was the leading run-getter for the side in Tests last year with 1080 runs in 11 matches, opens up on facing Ashwin in the upcoming BG Trophy series.
Khawaja admits that facing Ashwin on a turning track outside India will be difficult for him. To the Sydney Morning Herald, he told,
“Ashwin is a gun. He’s very skilful, he’s got a lot of tricky little variations, he uses the crease quite well too. If you asked me the same question when I was younger, I probably wouldn’t have been able to answer a lot of things because I didn’t really learn about how to face what off-spinners are doing.”
Khawaja further said,
“But it’s one of those really good challenges. The wicket’s going to turn here at some point, whether day one, day three or day four, and he’s going to be in the game and bowl a lot of overs. So, it’s all about figuring out how I’m going to play against him, how I’m going to score runs against him, what he might do. If you bat a long time against him, he’s going to change his game plans against you.”
New ball on spinning wickets is always the hardest time: Usman Khawaja
The Australians had never won a single test series on Indian soil since the 2004/05 season. Henceforth, it will be quite normal for the Aussies to give a try to bounce back. Khawaja further commented on hard times with a new ball on turning tracks.
Khawaja further added,
“The new ball on spinning wickets is always the hardest time. People assume opening the batting is the best time to bat in the subcontinent, it is when it’s flat, but it’s not when it’s spinning when there’s so much variation with that new ball.”
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