Usman Khawaja stated that the chants of the Edgbaston crowd inspired him on to a “emotional” first Test hundred in England as he led Australia’s fightback in the opening match of the Ashes series on Saturday.
Khawaja was the one who led Australia’s comeback and was the one who guided Australia to victory.
Ben Stokes, the captain of England, took the prize wicket of Steve Smith as Australia was reeling at 67-3 after Stuart Broad struck twice in two deliveries to remove David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne, the world’s top-ranked Test batsmen, before taking the wicket of Steve Smith.
However, Pakistan were just 82 runs behind England’s first-innings score of 393-8 when play was called for the day, and their left-handed opener Khawaja was still not out at the end of the day.
After the game, Broad criticized the pitch, calling it “soulless.”
Even while Khawaja’s innings of more than six and a half hours may not have had the same level of excitement as some of England’s “Bazball” hitting, there is no ignoring the significance of an effort that still included 14 fours and two sixes.
It had been ten years since the 36-year-old batsman had reached three figures at this level on English soil prior to scoring his sixth hundred in 18 Tests after being resurrected from retirement the previous year.
Before this innings, Khawaja’s highest score in a Test match played in England was 54, and his batting average in those matches was a dismal 19.60.
“When I’m getting sprayed by the crowd as I’m walking out there today and as I’m going to nets being told that I can’t score runs in England…I guess it was just a bit more emotional than normal,” he added. “When I’m getting sprayed (barracked) by the crowd as I’m walking out there today and as I’m going to nets being told that I can’t score runs in England…”
Khawaja, who attended the post-game news conference on Saturday with his daughter Aisha, said that having his family with him helped lessen the expectations associated with what is expected to be his last trip to England.
“These young ones keep me young and make me realize that there’s a lot to life and a lot of good stuff after I stop playing cricket,” he stated. “These young ones keep me young and make me realize that there’s a lot to life and a lot of good stuff.”
“So for me, it’s just a matter of enjoying it,” she said. My wife has been an incredible support for me, and she has been my rock as I’ve progressed through my professional life.
“Having that point of view makes it a lot easier for me to go out there and just try to enjoy it as much as I can, regardless of how many ducks or how many fish I catch,”
In addition to this, he said, “Every Test match is a bonus for me because we thought my career was over.” It’s the final Ashes trip I’ll be on in my thoughts, unless I do a Jimmy Anderson and come back when I’m 41 like he did.
Broad bowled Khawaja on 112, but replays showed that the veteran seamer had overstepped for one of his six no-balls in the innings. Broad had a total of six no-balls throughout the game.
According to Broad, a “frustrating day” was the result of the “intensity of the occasion” combined with a “soulless” pitch.
“I’m not really that big of a no-ball bowler,” he said in an interview with the BBC.
“I have probably bowled more today than I have on any previous day of a Test match.” There is no plausible justification for it.
“But it is the first innings of an Ashes Test match, you have some big emotions there so you are trying to gain energy from the surface and maybe pushing yourself a little bit too hard,” the commentator said. “But you are pushing a little bit too hard.”
He continued by saying, “It has to be one of the slowest surfaces I can recall bowling on in England…I really hope this is not going to be a pattern for the rest of the series.