Australia's stand-in captain Dave Warner backs dropped Test batsman to reverse recent form with white ball return
Warner backs Khawaja to return to form
Usman Khawaja averaged less than 14 with the bat in the Test series against Sri Lanka but stand-in Australia captain David Warner has backed him to bounce back in an expected one-day international recall.
Khawaja was dropped for the third Test in Sri Lanka having scored 55 runs in four innings, and was subsequently left out of the opening three ODIs on the tour.
However, a broken finger for Shaun Marsh has Khawaja almost certain to earn a recall for the fourth ODI in Dambulla today (7pm AEST), and Warner is confident he will have overcome his demons to help Australia wrap up the series.
"I think we all need to have a reality check sometimes in regards to the way that we play our game," Warner said.
"He's been training his backside off in the nets and he's been doing everything he can to put his hand up for selection.
Uzzie crunching a few in the Dambulla nets #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/Uooiyvhx00
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) August 30, 2016
"He accepts that he didn't have the runs on the board and he is doing everything he can to get back in the team."
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Khawaja's disappointing form in Sri Lanka's 3-0 drubbing of Australia is the first blemish on his record since being recalled to the national side last summer.
He averaged 36.16 in Australia's tri-series tournament win over the West Indies and South Africa in June, including two half-centuries.
He was also Australia's leading run-scorer in similar subcontinent conditions in India for the World T20, highlighting a common trend within the team, who as a whole perform better with the bat in limited overs matches in Asia as opposed to Tests.
"In one-day conditions it's a little bit different," Warner said.
"You're looking to score and you improvise a little bit.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing him come out and play the way that he does."
Warner has been one of the few batsman in the one-day team not to find form in the five-match one-day series on the Sri Lanka tour.
He is yet to score more than 10, having been the first batsman to fall in each of Australia's three matches.
"I feel like I'm hitting the ball as well as I can," he said.
"Unfortunately I haven't got the runs that are necessary.
"I'll be aiming to come out here and play my role as I normally do, try and have that intent from ball one."