Khawaja being supported through Ramadan

Usman Khawaja says he has the full support of Australia's coaching and fitness staff as he juggles playing and training on this Qantas Tour of the West Indies with observing the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan.

Khawaja, who posted his highest one-day international score of 98 against the West Indies in St Kitts earlier this week, will be a key player at the top of the order in Australia's crucial matches against South Africa and the Windies in the coming days as they look to qualify for the ODI Tri-Series final in Barbados on June 27 (AEST)

The left-hander, who spoke earlier on the tour about how his Muslim faith has helped him adopt a more relaxed approach to his cricket, has been fasting during daylight hours wherever possible during the series.

But he says playing and training makes it difficult to fast every day, adding his performances on the field are his number one focus.

Quick Single: Smith skips second training session

"I've done half the days so far. I did it one training day last week and I was absolutely buggered," he said with a smile.

"It's been alright. It's something that I really enjoy doing, but if it's affecting my cricket or my training in too much of a negative way then I probably won't do it. It just depends on the situation.

Quick Single: 'Sometimes you have horrendous days'

"It's something I believe really strongly, something I love doing and I hate missing it so I try and do everything I can to do it.

"But obviously during games it's a bit hard to have enough water and to stay switched on. If you don't have water, you don't realise how slow you become."

While Khawaja is far from the first cricketer to have juggled playing with fasting during Ramadan, it is not a common situation for a member of the senior men's Australian team.

And with the increased professionalism surrounding nutrition and fitness in the game, Khawaja says he has the full backing of Australia's support staff to make the right decision, both for himself and the team.

Quick Single: Khawaja taking time to find his one-day feet

"They don't force me to do anything," he says. "It's a choice, it's my personal choice.

"They know that at the end of the day I wouldn't do anything to jeopardise the team in any way.

"And what I'm doing now, I've said to them before that when I fast I make sure I do everything as well as I can. And if I'm not doing it as well as I can, I will stop doing it and catch it up later on, which is always an option.

"So they've been really good. I've been doing it for the past 10 years playing cricket.

"Sometimes people forget that I'm doing it because I don't like to talk about it. I think that might have happened last week when we were doing that big fielding session.

"But they're quite understanding about it now since I've been doing it for so long, so it's been good."