'Still groggy from the flight' - Usman Khawaja opens up on frustrating journey from Australia to India

The first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is just days away as India and Australia take each other in the first Test of the four-match series on February 9 in Nagpur. The Australian team flew to India out from Sydney after the Cricket Australia Awards on Monday.

Usman Khawaja missed the flight to India with the Australian team due to visa issues, however, the 36-year-old finally left for India last Thursday to join his teammates in Alur, on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Khawaja talked about his frustrating journey to India; he reached Delhi first before landing in Bengaluru for the four-day training camp.

At the Cricket Australia Awards held on Monday, Khawaja won the Shane Warne Test Player of the Year award. The 36-year-old was Australia’s highest run-getter in Tests with 1080 runs in 11 matches last year. He has been in sensational form and will be key for the Aussies as they take on India in the upcoming series.

It was, what it was: Khawaja on his long journey to India

Khawaja recently came forward to talk about the delays that he faced on his way to India. "It was what it was—I just wanted to get over there, to be honest. There's a good Sydney flight straight from Sydney to Bangalore and I missed that unfortunately, which sucked," he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

He admitted to still feeling a little groggy from the journey. Meanwhile, as one of the most in-form players in the squad, Khawaja is optimistic about Australia's chances of beating India and ending their long 18-year wait for a Test series win in the country.

"It was long, I had to go down to Melbourne, and then from Melbourne, I got delayed going three hours from Sydney to Melbourne, so it took me five or six hours to get there. Then I got delayed again from Melbourne to Delhi by four hours again, so it was just delay after delay after delay. I'm still a little bit groggy from the flight. Oh well, I'm here now," Khawaja said.