(Credit ICC)
Usman Khawaja, having witnessed David Warner’s brilliance up close, hopes Australia can secure a T20 World Cup victory for his retiring opening partner.
“As a friend, I’d love to see him (Warner) finish on a high. He’s been playing some really good cricket. It’s been really nice to see. You can tell he’s just enjoying being out there. He’s playing pretty relaxed. So he should. Yeah, it would be good to see,” Khawaja told PTI Videos in an interview ahead of Australia’s last Super 8s match against India.
The experienced Australian opener believes that despite a surprising loss to Afghanistan, it won’t prevent Mitchell Marsh’s team from securing their second T20 World Cup title since 2021.
Even if Australia are defeated by India in their final Super 8s match in Gros Islet on Monday evening (India time), Afghanistan would need highly unlikely scenarios to surpass them based on net run-rate.
“If Australia beats India and makes it to the semi-final, I think definitely, I think they can win. I think we’ve just got to get to the semi-final,” Khawaja said.
He highlighted Australia’s knack for elevating their performance during the knockout stages.
“I think we’ve shown over the years that we’re a great knockout team. As soon as there’s a knockout situation, more times than not we’ve won, but we’ve just got to get there.”
Khawaja commended Marsh for his leadership abilities, noting that his captaincy mirrors his character.
“I think his captaincy is just him. It’s him as a person. He doesn’t try to be anything that he’s not. He’s relaxed. He goes out and plays the game, takes the game on, leads from the front, leads by his actions. So, I’ve really enjoyed watching his captaincy,” he said.
The 37-year-old batsman, originally from Pakistan and with 73 Tests under his belt for Australia, mentioned that every team has vulnerabilities, though he recognized that India would pose a formidable challenge to overcome.
“I mean, India’s always a threat. They have batters left, right and centre. They have great bowlers. They have excellent spinners. They have literally all bases covered. They always have. I wouldn’t go out and say India’s so far ahead, a better team than everyone else, because they’re not.
“So I think on any day, any team can beat anyone, particularly in T20 cricket,” he observed.
Khawaja described the upcoming series against India and the home Ashes in 2025 as the epitome of cricketing rivalries.
“It’s always tough to beat India in India. But in the last couple of series, India has beaten Australia in Australia, which is never nice for an Australian. So, yeah, we’ve got a lot to play for. It’s a big series. To me, England and India are the two biggest series,” he exclaimed.
