Sydney: Usman Khawaja has been called into the Australia squad as cover for expectant father David Warner in the next two one-day internationals against India, Cricket Australia said Wednesday.
BREAKING: An Australian Cricket Team star has been replaced in the ODI squad due to personal reasons.
Posted by cricket.com.au on Tuesday, 12 January 2016
Warner's wife Candice is expecting the couple's second child shortly, with Khawaja joining the squad in Brisbane. He will remain for matches two and three of the five-game series at the Gabba on Friday and in Melbourne on Sunday.
"Usman has been in fantastic form this season and was unlucky to miss out on a place in our squad for the ODI series in the first place," chief selector Rod Marsh said.
"This call-up is a reward for that form and it is great to have someone of his quality to step into the squad in David's absence.
"We look forward to welcoming David back into the squad when circumstances allow."
Khawaja's most recent innings was a 42-ball 62 for Sydney Thunder in the Twenty20 Big Bash League against the Melbourne Renegades on Monday following his scores of 144 and 56 against the West Indies in the second Melbourne Test over Christmas.
That was his comeback to international cricket after a hamstring injury struck following scores of 174, nine not out and 121 in Tests against New Zealand.
And after recovering from that injury, his first innings back was a brilliant 109 from 70 balls for the Thunder against the Melbourne Stars in the BBL on December 20.
Australia won the opening ODI by five wickets over India in Perth on Tuesday.
Khawaja aims to cement place:
Included in the ODI side for the ongoing series after Warner was released to be with his expecting wife Candice, Khawaja said he is happy to get the lucky break.
"I am just happy to be selected for the ODIs. I am not sure whether I will be picked in the final XI but it is always nice to be picked or selected in the squad because this is like getting rewarded for good work," he told reporters.
"I haven't been told anything on whether I will play or not. I am just using my common sense, since David is not there, I am expecting to play," he added.
Asked if being ignored for the shorter format hurt him given his reasonably good showing in the Tests, Khawaja said the disappointment was obvious but he has not let that get in the way of his performances.
"I was disappointed not to get in that first squad but I have been dropped enough and selected enough in my career to know that worrying about it, is not going to help. I was disappointed but I have moved on. Any chance you get to play for Australia is amazing," he said.
"I want to play as many formats for Australia as possible. I am really happy with how the Test stuff has gone. There is a lot of one-day cricket coming up in the next year and I would love to be a part of it. Hopefully I can contribute moving forward," he said.
Asked if it would be tough to adjust to the format given he hasn't played much of it, Khawaja said he always finds it tougher to shift from Test to limited-overs games and not vice-versa.
"We are number one in the world and I had like to keep it that way," he added.
