The debates will rage long into the night and beyond. In the age of Bazball, a batsman scoring 65 at a strike-rate less than two runs an over is almost a museum exhibit. Just for context, England overhauled a target of 378 in just 76.4 overs against India at Edgbaston less than a year ago. In 173 balls, 24 fewer than Usman Khawaja faced at the same venue on Tuesday, Joe Root finished unbeaten on 142.
But such details matter little to Khawaja, who has made an entire career out of shattering stereotypes and changing perceptions. When he started out, in the New Year Test in Sydney in 2011, Australian cricket was pretty much at its lowest ebb. The Ashes were lost 3-1, a first home loss in a generation, and the World Cup would also slip out of Australian hands soon after, with India prevailing in a tense quarterfinal in Ahmedabad.
The Khawaja of those years was a flaky batsman. Some attractive strokes and a lovely, languid style, but hardly an innings of substance. In his first nine Tests, before he was dropped from the side in the aftermath of Homeworkgate in India, he went past 50 just twice, and had a top score of 65.
Apart from being stuck in cameo mode, he was also slated by his critics for being that rare breed, the Asian (origin) batsman who couldn’t play spin. Even a defiant, match-saving century against Pakistan in Dubai (2018) didn’t entirely change those perceptions. Soon after, when Marnus Labuschagne emerged, it was Khawaja that felt the cold steel of the selector’s axe. At the age of 33, and after a stop-start career across formats, that looked to be that.
But Khawaja didn’t mope. He went back to Queensland, his adopted state, and kept churning out the runs. He made sure Australian cricket’s decision-makers didn’t forget him. So, when Travis Head caught Covid before the Ashes Test in Sydney in January 2022, it was Khawaja that the selectors turned to.
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He had just turned 35, and 11 years had passed since his debut. This, though, was a very different player. Given his opportunity, Khawaja responded with innings of 137 and 101 not out. In Pakistan, the country of his birth, two months later, he had scores of 97, 160, 91 and 104 not out. So much for not being able to play spin.
In India earlier this year, he overcame a poor start to the series with scores of 81, 60 and 180. The most noticeable aspect of this ‘new’ Khawaja was his composure, the unshakeable calm. There were many times when R Ashwin, in particular, teased and tormented him with variations in flight, drift and turn. But whether the ball went past the outside edge or dropped safely into no-man’s land, Khawaja would be back in his stance and ready for the next challenge.
At Edgbaston, he faced 518 deliveries across the two innings, the first overseas opening bat to face more than 500 balls in a Test in England since South Africa’s Neil McKenzie in 2008. And though England did an excellent job of choking off his run-scoring areas in the second innings, at no stage did Khawaja seem flustered or jittery. Until Ben Stokes finally found the inside edge on to the stumps, Khawaja seemed in the mood to carry his bat.
Remember too that this is no blocker with a limited repertoire of shots. Khawaja has three T20 centuries and was instrumental in Sydney Thunder winning the Big Bash in 2015-16. He’s more than capable of some Bazball.
But such labels hold no interest for Khawaja, whose method has now fetched him seven centuries in 18 Tests, at an average of 67.67, since he returned to the side 18 months ago.
“It’s great to watch, I understand why people enjoy watching it,” he said with a smile when asked about Bazball after his first-innings century. “But it doesn’t matter how you win in Test cricket, it’s all about trying to win. Whether they win or we win at the end of this Test, no one will care how you did it – whether you scored at six an over, whether you scored at three an over. This is why a Test match is a beautiful game. You have to do things your way. I’ve learned that over a long career.”
Australia’s run-rate as they sealed one of the most nail-biting of Ashes-Test victories? Just a shade over 3. There’s a lesson there for all of us. The shiny and new is always appealing. But there’s always a place for good, old-fashioned grit. Who’d have imagined that Cameo Khawaja would come to epitomise that?