Usman Khawaja says he is mentally stronger and better prepared for Test cricket than when he was dumped 12 months ago from the national team.
But Khawaja, favoured in some circles as Ricky Ponting’s natural Test replacement, says even a 300 in the Chairman’s XI clash with Sri Lanka, starting on Thursday at Manuka Oval, won’t book his place for next week’s Bellerive Test.
His sound technique, substantial runs at Sheffield Shield level this summer and Test experience ensure he is one of the leading contenders to replace Australia’s greatest Test run-scorer.
Perhaps the only thing counting against him was a perceived lack of focus and mental strength – two things which Khawaja says have turned around this season, thanks in no small part to his switch from NSW to Queensland and his work with former Test batsman Darren Lehmann.
Khawaja played the last of his six Tests in Hobart in December last year and he admits the axing left him rattled and led to his decision to switch states, where he has made a minor technical tweak to his game.
“It’s obviously tough, being dropped,” Khawaja told AAP on Tuesday.
“I got away from it a bit and, this year, my head is really clear and that’s probably the difference from last year.
“When I left the Test team last year, I was a bit muddled up. I had a lot of things going through my head.
“And that happens. That’s part of the ride. It’s part of the journey. You learn that when you get dropped.
“I definitely went back and worked hard on my game. I knew I had to change some aspects.
One bookmaker created a fictional market on Tuesday which had the 25-year-old a $1.65 favourite ahead of South Australia’s Phil Hughes ($2.30) and Victoria’s Rob Quiney, who was dropped after scoring just nine runs in two Tests against South Africa, an outsider at $15.
But Khawaja, who has 438 Shield runs this summer, insists that selectors will already have their minds made up as to how the Australian top six will line up for the first of their three Tests against Sri Lanka – and no amount of runs at Manuka Oval will sway them, despite Ed Cowan’s 109 against India last summer propelling him into the Test team.
“You could score 300 in this game and it doesn’t mean you’re going to be in the next Test team,” Khawaja said.
“I reckon they’ll have a pretty good idea of what they want going into the Sri Lanka Test.
“It’s not very far away.
“… (But) talking to selectors last year, they do put a bit of emphasis on games like this.
“(Current selector) Rod Marsh said the same thing last year when I played the chairman’s game.”
