Ravi Ashwin is a gun, he’s very skillful and has got lot of tricky little variations: Usman Khawaja

Ahead of the crucial Test series, Australia opener Usman Khawaja expressed that facing team India veteran spinner Ravi Ashwin would be a ‘good challenge’. Khawaja is riding high on the back of terrific outings in the red-ball format as he was the leading run-getter for the side in Tests last year with 1080 runs in 11 matches.

That said, the fight against Ashwin away from home coupled with the turning tracks in India will prove to be quite a challenge for the southpaw. The Pakistan-born batter heaped praises on Ashwin and addressed the prospect of taking on the veteran spinner in the forthcoming series. 

"Ashwin is a gun. He’s very skilful, he’s got a lot of tricky little variations, he uses the crease quite well too. If you asked me the same question when I was younger, I probably wouldn’t have been able to answer a lot of things because I didn’t really learn about how to face what off-spinners are doing,” Khawaja told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“But it’s one of those really good challenges. The wicket’s going to turn here at some point, whether day one, day three or day four, and he’s going to be in the game and bowl a lot of overs. So, it’s all about figuring out how I’m going to play against him, how I’m going to score runs against him, what he might do. If you bat a long time against him, he’s going to change his game plans against you,” he added. 

New ball on spinning wickets is always the hardest time: Usman Khawaja

Considering that the Aussies have failed to register a series win on Indian soil since the 2004/05 season, it will be a stern test for the side to overcome the challenge given the spin-friendly tracks of India. Khawaja further added that the new ball has given them a hard time on the turning tracks.

“The new ball on spinning wickets is always the hardest time. People assume opening the batting is the best time to bat in the subcontinent, it is when it’s flat, but it’s not when it’s spinning when there’s so much variation with that new ball,” added Khawaja.