That's drinks: Khawaja ready for cricket

If there’s one job you don’t want to be good at in cricket, it’s being the 12th man.

Just ask Usman Khawaja, the elegant left-handed batsman who was consigned to that frustrating duty for four months in the subcontinent during the Qantas Tour of India and the Indian Premier League.

Instead of wielding a bat in a Baggy Green cap, he was left to ferry water, gloves, spare bats and anything else his teammates requested, all in a high-vis fluorescent vest, just in case you missed him.

Khawaja’s last game of elite-level cricket was on January 22 – a one-day international against Pakistan in Sydney – having been deemed surplus to requirements for Australia’s four Tests in India and the entire season for IPL runners-up Rising Pune Supergiant.

"I was sure I was going to get a game in the IPL later on (in the season) because I knew a few guys were leaving," Khawaja told cricket.com.au.

"I talked to ‘Flem’ (Pune coach Stephen Fleming) too and he was like, ‘Just stay ready. These guys are leaving later on, anything can happen. Stay ready because you’re likely going to play later on’.

"I stayed ready but the way it worked out we were playing really well and winning games with the team we had.

"Just with the balance of the side and our overseas players, we needed more bowling stocks in our team than batting stocks.

"We had some really good Indian players batting really well – (MS) Dhoni, Manoj Tiwary was playing really well – we had ‘Smudger’ (captain Steve Smith) batting up the top there and (Ajinkya) Rahane opening the batting with Rahul Tripathi, another youngster you came out of nowhere batting beautifully.

"It was disappointing not to play but it was really good to be part of a winning side."

The time on the subcontinent sidelines has inadvertently made Khawaja an expert when it comes to the infrastructure of Indian cricket grounds.

Khawaja was on the 2013 Test tour of India but didn’t play a match due to selection and suspension; he played exclusively in Chennai on the 2015 Australia A tour; and he opened the batting in last year’s World T20 where his side failed to progress to the semi-finals.

It’s why when a teammate wants to know where a particular facility is in a certain venue, Khawaja is your go-to guy.

"There’s been a lot of drink carrying in India," he said.

"I was laughing with (Pune teammate Adam) Zampa because he wasn’t playing a lot of the IPL too.

"We were doing gym sessions on match days and he was always asking where the gyms were at each venue.

"We got to another venue and I’d point out the gym. Another venue, same thing.

"He asked me how I knew where all the gyms where and I told him ‘I know where every gym in India is – match days I’m in there a lot’."

When he wasn’t pumping iron in the strong room or acting as his team’s hydration officer, Khawaja was in the nets working on his game as best he could.

But the nets can take development only so far, and after four months of facing practice bowlers for hours on end, there comes a point where progress stalls.

"I feel it’s really hard to improve as a cricketer in the nets," Khawaja explained.

"You can work on specific areas, which I did when I was over there as I always do, but at the end of the day you’ve got to be playing cricket games to test yourself and put yourself under a bit of pressure.

"I’ve never been a big one for hitting a million balls in the nets because I like to balance it with game time.

"So if you’re hitting lots of balls in the nets you want to be hitting lots of balls in the game and then you know you’re doing something right.

"It’s tough in that regard. I got a bit of batting time which is nice because there’s lots of little Indian net bowlers that want to bowl. I had a bit of fun trying to slog them around.

"You always try to maximise playing or training time because you might not get any later on when you start playing again."

There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel.

This month Khawaja was named captain of Australia A’s four-day squad to tour South Africa in July.

There he’ll be able to shake off the cobwebs in two matches against South Africa A and get back to doing what he does best, and that’s scoring plenty of runs and making it look easy.

An added incentive – not that one is usually needed when representing your country – to perform well against the Proteas ‘A’ side is the four-Test tour of South Africa that looms next February-April, a tour Khawaja is already eying.

"I’m looking forward to playing cricket, but it’s always tough, I’ve been away for so long," he said.

"There’s a Test series in South Africa (in 2018) and hopefully I’m a part of that.

"To get a bit of time in South Africa and playing in those conditions wouldn’t hurt. And just to get a bit of cricket time, that would be nice. 

"There’s a lot of time between now and then so we’ll see what happens.

"I’m a standby for the Champions Trophy but if something happens in that region I’ve got to get ready for that.

"For me it’s just about trying to keep my head down, trying to play some cricket and not worrying too much about what else happens.

"All the chats I’ve had with selectors have been very positive. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and not change too much."

Whatever happens, Khawaja is adamant he doesn’t want to be carrying the drinks any time soon.

"I don’t really rate my waterboy skills actually," Khawaja said. "It’s not something you want to be good at either.

"It was a bit easier in the IPL because we had a million guys helping out, I didn’t have to do too much at all.

"When you’re in the Test side you just want to help the guys as best you can, whatever they might need.

"I know what it’s like when I’m playing, the stuff you take for granted that the 12th men do, you don’t even think about it.

"It’s not an easy role but it does help towards the team for the greater good."

Having performed the role of 12th man admirably for more than 100 days on the road, Khawaja said there is one teammate that kept him busy more than others.

"I reckon I change my gloves once every session, max," he said.

"People probably line up to be my glove runner because they’d have a very easy life.

"‘Smudger’, he changed his gloves after two overs in the last Test in Dharamsala.

"He went in there, he played the next over, and then he changed his gloves.

"It wasn’t even two overs I reckon. It was unbelievable, I’ve never seen anything like it.

"He averages 60 in Test cricket, maybe there’s something to it."