Usman Khawaja included in Aussie Squad for England Tour
The Australian squad for the test series against Pakistan has been unveiled; the two matches are going to be staged in England at Lords and Headingly in the third week of July.
The 14-man-squad led by Ricky Ponting includes a youngster who is from Pakistani-origin who is expected to play in the series.
23-year-old Usman Khawaja was born in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, and was three years old when his family moved to Sydney.
In the last few years, the left-hander has emerged as one of the leading batsmen in the Australian domestic circuit, where run making is a tough proposition given the competition and tough nature of the pitches.
The youngster has been at his pugnacious best in the heat of the Australian cricket performing like a true professional that has looked beyond his age.
Not long ago, Khawaja claimed that he had a dream of representing Australia and was willing to go all out to achieve that.
He is set to realise his ambition, and is set to become the first Muslim to represent the best team in the world in test cricket.
Usman was elated at his selection and added that he was happy about the fact that he will be the first Muslim to represent the Aussies. That was definitely not on his mind when he got the nod for the tour, his only concern was to enjoy the feeling that was surreal to him.
The player added that he always felt at home in Australia, and was not bothered that his opponent would be a country where his roots belong.
The southpaw has a fine record in Australia and has also represented the national under-19 team. At the first class level; Usman proved to the critics that he was a force to be reckoned with in his second and third seasons with New South Wales.
In the third season of the Sheffield Shield, he slammed three tons in the 2009/10 season.
Usman’s haul for the season was 698 runs that was a year after he had accumulated a tally of 554 runs at an average of 42.61 runs per innings.
The rest of the Australian squad is a balanced one; the nucleus of the team is the same that thrashed Pakistan in the three match series held down under earlier in the year.
The test squad also includes Steven Smith who had a good run at the world T20 in the Caribbean where the Aussies reached final, losing out to arch rivals England.
The Australian selectors have also called back, fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus who did not feature in the test series against Pakistan.
The test series in England would be a unique challenge for the Aussies, as for the first time, a neutral test series would take place in England.
The series that was originally set to take place in Pakistan was moved out of the country due to security fear, in the aftermath of the terror strikes on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March last year.
The two match series is going to be of paramount importance for the new look Pakistan team led by Shahid Afridi, as the men in green have lost the last 12 test matches they have played against the Australia.
The run started in Brisbane in 1999, let us see if Pakistan can finally stop the Aussie juggernaut that has steamrolled them time and again in the last decade.
The squad includes following: Ricky Ponting (capt), Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin (wk), Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Doug Bollinger, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris.
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