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Usman Khawaja insists he doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel to rediscover his magic touch.
Khawaja entered the four-Test series against India as arguably Australia’s most-important batsman, but he’s yet to fire.
The 31-year-old scored 28 and eight in the first Test in Adelaide, before posting just five off 38 balls in the first innings in Perth.
His strike rate over that period has been 20 – well short of his career average of 50.
India’s tactic of bowling around the wicket to Khawaja is paying off, with the classy left-hander struggling when cramped for room.
He isn’t worried about his recent lean run, believing it is just a matter of bad luck, rather than bad form.
“Cricket’s a funny game. It goes in circles,” Khawaja said.
“I scored a lot of runs this year – a lot of runs in first-class cricket, over in Glamorgan, Aussie A, then the UAE.
“There’s going to be a couple of innings here and there where I don’t. That’s just part of the game – nothing changes.
“If you’re not scoring runs, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You just have to get out there next time and score some more runs.
“It could be a lot worse. I could get three first-ballers.”
Khawaja is the most-experienced batsman in the side with 37 Tests to his name – one more than Shaun Marsh.
In the recent Test series against Pakistan, Khawaja scored 85 and 141 in the series opener to help force a draw in searing UAE heat.
A recent knee injury had halted that momentum, but he is confident of producing the goods in the near future.
Australia might need a big Khawaja score in the second innings in Perth after a Virat Kohli-inspired India worked their way back into the second Test.
India will resume play on day three at 3-172, with Kohli on 82 and Ajinkya Rahane on 51.
© AAP
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