1 week Ago
has come out in defence of his opening partner-to-be, Nathan McSweeney, over the ongoing strike rate debate. Khawaja has called the need to accelerate at the top of the order in Test cricket a "myth". The southpaw is of the opinion that the role of an opener in the red-ball format is to also "absorb" while scoring runs.
He feels that since Test cricket is played over a span of five days, a batter can take his time and capitalize once set. "I don't know where this myth started that you need someone to score really fast to do well," Khawaja was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "You've got five days to do it.
..I don't know why you need to score fast.
"Opening's as much about scoring runs as it is about being able to absorb. Davey was special; he could score runs while absorbing but he didn't do it (score fast) every time. He was consistent; out there and setting a platform, and Nathan does that very well.
" Khawaja also shared a piece of advice for McSweeney who is all set to make his Test debut after impressing the selectors at the first-class level. "There's no guarantees in cricket..
.but he doesn't have to do anything different," Khawaja mentioned. "Just repeat the process.
He's been able to handle the pressure at Shield level. When you look at his demeanour, the way he plays, you do kind of feel over a longer period of time he'll be able to handle the scrutiny, the pressure of Test cricket." (C), (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, , , , Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd.
Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Reddy, Washington Sundar. Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, (c), Scott Boland, , Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, , Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, , Mitchell Starc.
