AUS vs SA: Usman Khawaja says ‘Very important to put team first’

• Usman Khawaja was named Player of the Match for his 195 not out.
• Khawaja says ‘Very important to put team first’.
• Khawaja was born in Pakistan and emigrated to Australia with his family.

Usman Khawaja, a seasoned left-handed opener who scored 195 runs in the drawn Sydney Test match against South Africa and was named Player of the Match, stressed the need of putting the team first.

Khawaja made his comments after Pat Cummins, the Australia captain, declared the first innings score at 475/4, leaving Khawaja stranded at 195, five runs short of what would have been his first double century in Test cricket.

The decision drew analogies to the Sachin Tendulkar-Rahul Dravid controversy from the Multan Test in 2004, when the then-skipper Dravid had declared, leaving Tendulkar stranded on 194 and six runs short of a renowned double century on Pakistani territory.

“I would love to have a double ton next to my name but at the end of the day it’s a great way to showcase cricket and what cricket stands for. You want to go out there and you want to make milestones and achieve certain goals but at the end of the day it’s about winning and you’ve got to do what’s best.”

“I think any children watching out there, or anyone watching how Australia plays their sport, it’s always team first and I think that’s very important when you are playing a team game,” said Khawaja in the post-match presentation ceremony.

The knock also ensured that Khawaja‘s run-making spree at Sydney continued after notching up twin centuries in last year’s Ashes Test. “I’m just enjoying the good times at the moment. (The SCG) can be a grinding wicket, a slow wicket, spin is always in the game so you need to have your options against spin. It’s not rocket science, if you bat well and you do it for a long time you’ll usually succeed out there.”

When the SCG, his home ground, hosts a Test match the following year, his opening partner David Warner, who was voted Player of the Series in the 2-0 series victory over South Africa for his 213 runs in three matches, longed for better weather in Sydney.

“It was a fantastic performance by the whole team. Each individual had their own performances. We would have all liked to bat a bit more. But credit to our bowlers. Our bowlers were fantastic. It didn’t go our way. Hopefully this Sydney weather is better next year.”

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