Khawaja heads to England with low expectations

Khawaja heads to england with low expectations0

After suffering on past trips, Australian batsman Usman Khawaja will travel to the Ashes with low expectations and the belief that England is the most difficult venue in the world for top-order batting positions.

Khawaja’s batting average in England is 19.66, which is less than half of his lifetime average of 47.81. He was benched after three games in the 2019 Ashes, which Australia won 2-2 to retain possession of the urn.

Khawaja stated to the Australian media that in his perspective, England is the most difficult venue in the world for a top three batsmen to bat, adding that this statement is straight and simple.

“Working with new ball is difficult, but then you have some conditions (because to the weather), and there’s also a little bit of luck involved in it.

Work hard, practice hard, and if you’re going to England, go with modest expectations. Work on every game one at a time, because you are going to fail as a batsman. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that.”

“But when you do score, you try to cash in as much as you possibly can.”

In 2019, Khawaja was not the only opener who struggled to score runs at the top of the order. Teammate David Warner had the poorest ever average for an opener to play 10 innings in a series, averaging 9.50 runs per game. Khawaja was not alone in this struggle.

Khawaja was taken out of the lineup after the Leeds Test in 2019, and he did not return until the fourth test of the final Ashes series played in Australia in 2021-22, which was a 4-0 victory for the home team.

Since then, the elegant left-handed batsman has established himself as a mainstay in Australia’s Test lineup. He struck two hundreds while batting at number five in the Sydney match.

The man, who is now 36 years old, stated, “I feel like I’m a better player than I was ten years ago.”

“But… there are no guarantees – (James) Anderson and (Stuart) Broad, they are incredible bowlers, and they are difficult work at the beginning.”

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