MIKE Hussey has hailed Usman Khawaja for his “incredible” innings against Pakistan and praised Australia’s performance in the first Test as typifying coach Justin Langer’s “never-say-die attitude”.
Playing its first Test since March’s spiteful tour of South Africa that was rocked by the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal, Australia battled to the most remarkable of draws in Dubai. Set an improbable target of 462 to win across the final day and a half, Australia saw out 139.5 overs to survive with two wickets in hand.
“They had a mountain to climb,” Hussey told foxsports.com.au. “They showed amazing resilience and spirit to fight their way through that last day and lot of credit has to go to the players
“This Australian team wants to earn respect back on the world stage through their behaviour and their spirit and the way they play the game, but also with their results and their skill.
“They went a long way to earning back some respect through day five’s performance.”
The Dubai Test was the first under the leadership duo of captain Tim Paine and coach Justin Langer, and Langer compared the performance to Australia’s famous win over Pakistan in 1999. That Test saw Langer make 127 in a 238-run stand that saw the hosts chase down 369. Hussey, who played alongside Langer at Western Australia, said the coach’s fingertips were all over last week’s performance.
“It typifies the character of a Justin Langer,” he said. “He was quite often a back-to-the-wall type of player. Tough and uncompromising with a never-give-up attitude and that’s the way the team played in the back half of this game.”
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No player exemplified that attitude more than Khawaja. Taking a Test average of 14.62 in Asia into the match, Khawaja notched his first ever half-century on the continent in the first innings (85) before making 141 in the game’s final chapter to help secure the draw. The left-hander spent roughly 27 hours in the field in a week where temperatures hovered at 38 degrees Celsius. It’s an effort Hussey – who one faced 276 deliveries in a Test in Bengaluru – has described as “incredible.”
“When you’re tired that’s when errors start to happen, mental errors and skill errors,” Hussey said. “He was able to keep his concentration levels up extremely high throughout the whole Test match really which is an incredible effort really and takes great mental strength.”
One of Australia’s finest ever players of spin, Hussey was particularly impressed by Khawaja’s handling of Yasir Shah and believes the 31-year-old found a level of self-assuredness that had not been there on previous tours of Asia.
“He looks more in control, more composed and calmer at the crease. In the past he’s looked a bit hurried, a bit flustered and a bit tense, which is not really his personality, he’s normally a really relaxed guy.
“In both innings he just looked in control, never hurried, never rushed. The way he played Yasir was a real standout. Yasir Shah is one of the best bowlers in the world and he had no answers (for Khawaja) for long periods of time.”
Khawaja was not the only man to impress in the second innings, with Travis Head and Tim Paine both scoring crucial half-centuries. Both men misfired in Australia’s first dig, in which the tourists lost ten for 60 after a 142-run opening stand between Khawaja and Aaron Finch. That collapse culminated in Langer taking his left-hander’s out for a pitch side debrief after day three.
Hussey believes the success Australia’s middle-order had in the second-innings was as much down to mindset as it was technique.
“They were just a bit tighter. Pakistan was looking for errors and Australia fell into that trap in the first innings. In the second they were much more patient, much more disciplined. They had some luck along the way, which you have to have, but they certainly played more high percentage shots.”
Two men who didn’t enjoy such luck were Marsh brothers Shaun and Mitchell. The senior Marsh brother paid the price for chasing a ball outside off in the first innings to fall for seven, before a brilliant bit of reverse swing knocked him over for a duck in the second. Mitch Marsh meanwhile was trapped lbw in both innings (12 and 0).
Hussey says it is not time to start panicking over their performances.
“It’s just the way it goes on the subcontinent, there are going to be days where you miss out. It’s really hard to start and unfortunately there are going to be players that get out cheaply. You see it all the time. Even the other guys that did score runs, they might have had a little bit of luck early in their innings and happened to get away with it.
“As long as Mitch and Shaun continue to stick to their plans and they keep backing themselves than I have no doubt that they will be fine.”
