NEW DELHI: Veteran Australian opener Usman Khawaja has expressed his intention to continue his international Test career, emphasising that he will remain active as long as he feels he is making valuable contributions to the team.
The 38-year-old’s recent performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was below par, with a total of 184 runs across five matches at an average of 20.44, with 57 being his highest score.
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“I’m just taking it series by series. I still feel like I’m contributing; we’re winning games; we’ve been the world’s number one team for about three years now. We’ve got a very solid team in terms of bowlers, batsmen and Alex Carey behind the stumps, so I’m not looking too far ahead; it’s each series at a time.
“But I’m also mindful that nothing lasts forever; at some stage there’s going to have to be a time to leave the game, and I respect that. There’s going to have to be the next players to come up, and I’m very mindful of that too. But at the moment, there’s not a lot of thought of that at the moment,” said Khawaja to SEN Radio.
The left-handed batter maintains regular discussions with chief selector George Bailey and head coach Andrew McDonald regarding his position and future prospects in the Test squad.
“I’m always in constant communication with the coach and George Bailey and I’m here to contribute and play for the Australian cricket team and do well. Either whenever that time is when I pull the pin or I feel like it’s time to look at the next goal whenever that may be (I’ll do that). I don’t feel like it’s right now, but I’m very open to that. But at the moment, I’m just enjoying my cricket and playing for Australia,” he said.
Khawaja’s next Test appearance will be during Australia’s two-match series in Sri Lanka, commencing in Galle on January 29.
