Usman Khawaja looking to play in the Pakistan Super League (PSL)
Queensland captain Usman Khawaja says a candid conversation with Australia coach Justin Langer allowed him to move on from his "angry" reaction to a surprise axing and instead channel his energies into returning to the national set-up.
Speaking with cricket.com.au, the 33-year-old has also indicated he would love to explore the option of becoming a T20 gun for hire once his first-class and international playing days are behind him.
Despite a stunning six-month period in 2019 that reaped 1,085 ODI runs at 49.31, Khawaja has since found himself absent from Australia's 50-over squad, beginning with tours to India (January) and South Africa (February-March), and more recently when he was omitted from an extended 21-man playing group for the current white-ball tour of the UK.
The left-hander was also overlooked for last summer's home Test series against Pakistan and New Zealand after being dropped during the 2019 Ashes, with his time in the international wilderness now more than 12 months – his longest period without Australia representation in almost five years.
"There was a bigger squad (for the UK white-ball tour) so it was a little bit disappointing not to be in the team, but I mean I've been dropped and in and out of teams so many times that I've just learned to deal with it, much better than I would've say 10 years ago," Khawaja told cricket.com.au.
"I was a lot more disappointed when I first got left out of the Indian tour, because … at that time I felt like I very much belonged in that team, I was averaging 50 in one-day cricket for that period of time, I was in the top three or four run-scorers for the world in that year, so I didn't really understand it.
"It was a really frustrating decision, and I was really angry for a period of that time.
"Fortunately I talked to 'JL' (Langer) about three or four weeks after that happened … and got it all out in the open. It was a really good chat to have, and after that I've been really good; I've focused again on just worrying about my cricket. So it just shows you the importance of communicating, and it was nice to have that.
"You want to ask selectors if there's anything specific that's sticking out (regarding your non-selection) but in this case that's not it; in this case, I'm a top-order batsman and you've got Steve Smith, Dave Warner and the captain, Aaron Finch, ahead of me.
"I was hoping to be a spare batsman in that top order which I thought I might've been this (UK tour), but I wasn't, and that's OK.
"We don't have many one-day games at the moment for me to stick my hand up but there's plenty of cricket coming up – there's Big Bash, plenty of red-ball cricket – and I still feel like there's a lot left for me on the horizon, and I'm making sure I'm focusing on that stuff rather than worrying about not being picked because I know how quickly things can change in cricket.
"I still feel like I'm pretty close (to national selection). Just speaking to JL, if there's something that happens with that (ODI) top order, I'm right up there – I was on standby for this tour too, so I still feel I'm very close.
"In four-day and Test match cricket I've had really good conversations with JL, too, and at the end of the day, I feel like I'm really close there.
"If I score runs, I put my hand up and give myself the best chance to bat in Test cricket anywhere in that top six. That's all I can do."
Khawaja has been a stalwart in the KFC BBL with the Sydney Thunder and the free-flowing opener is one of the competition's most devastating batsman on his day, a fact underlined by his remarkable hot streak in the back-end of BBL|05 which underpinned his side's maiden title.
Last summer he was the 12th-highest run-maker in the tournament and he envisions a longer-term playing future in the shortest format, paying particular note to the country of his birth.
"Absolutely, if I'm still playing well and the body is still feeling well," he said when asked about the prospect of joining the T20 domestic leagues circuit in three or four years' time.
"Three years is a long time but yeah, absolutely, I mean top of the order, it's good fun and (T20 is) a little bit easier on the body, too.
"There are lots of competitions around the world which I haven't played in yet. I've played IPL, and T20 cricket in England, but I haven't played CPL (Caribbean Premier League) or even PSL (Pakistan Super League) yet, which would be nice to do.
"Pakistan is obviously where my family is from, it's where I was born and I'd love to get back there one day. I haven't been there for 11, 12 years so I'd like to tick that off the bucket list, too.
"I've got a lot of support in Pakistan and it'd be nice to go back and see and meet some of those people."
https://www.cricket.com.au/news/usm...20-gun-for-hire-caribbean-pakistan/2020-09-05
