Michael Hussey urges Usman Khawaja to repay selector's trust in spades

Australian cricket legend Michael Hussey has urged batsman Usman Khawaja to repay the selectors faith in ‘in spades’. The no.3 batsman has made just one run in each innings of the 1st Test match. Bangladesh won a historic encounter by 20 runs after the visitors failed to chase down 265. Apart from opener David Warner, not many batsmen fired with the bat.

Khawaja played a game after being in the cold for a long time. He was in the Test squad during the tour of India but spent most of his time on the bench. The same thing happened during the IPL, when he was roped in my Rising Pune Warriors. Hussey, who is also known as ‘Mr. Cricket’, pointed out the lack of cricket that he has played in build-up the Bangladesh tour.

“You shouldn’t be judging someone on a couple of innings, and in one of those innings he was run-out,” Hussey told cricket.com.au’s The Unplayable Podcast. “He hasn’t played any cricket for so long, so it’s going to take time for him to get back in and get up to speed with that match hardness. Even in the IPL he just sat on the bench the whole time, so it’s difficult and it’s going to take a little bit of time.”

Patience is the key

“I know there’s going to be the doubters out there but (Khawaja is) a quality player,” Hussey said. “He’s class, and if you show the faith, show that you believe in him, you’ll get the best out of him. “If you start chopping and changing, and sending those messages that you’re not backing him, then you’re going to get these inconsistent performances.

The former middle-order batsman also requested the selectors to have patience while dealing with Khawaja. He cited the example of Nathan Lyon, who was doubted many a time by the cricket experts but delivered after a certain period.

“And it’s shown with someone like Nathan Lyon – he throughout his career has had a lot of doubters, but the selectors have shown faith in him over a period of time and believed in him, and look at him now; he’s repaid that in spades. I think Usman Khawaja is in the same boat: we know he’s a good player, we know he’s got class, (so) just show that believe and faith in him and he will repay it in spades, I promise you,” he added.