Hales surprised by Khawaja's ODI omission

Having witnessed firsthand what he can do with the bat, hard-hitting Sydney Thunder opener Alex Hales says he’s surprised his KFC BBL teammate Usman Khawaja is not in India with Australia's ODI team.

But Hales is glad to have the left-hander alongside him at the Thunder, who broke a three-game losing streak with a tense four-wicket win over Hobart Hurricanes last night.

Khawaja was overlooked for Australia's Qantas Tour of India despite being one of the leading run-scorers in the 50-over game in 2019 and an integral part of Australia's World Cup squad before injury struck late in the tournament.

The 33-year-old said he "didn't really see this one coming" when speaking about his ODI axing last month, but has since made a bright start to the season for the Thunder.

And it is in the KFC BBL where Khawaja has linked up with Hales, the English import who posted 55 in a 96-run opening stand with the elegant stroke maker on Saturday night.

Khawaja scored 35 and played second fiddle to Hales, who wants to see his opening partner back in national colours but is thrilled to have him at the Thunder.

"Having played with him, yeah, he's an outstanding player," Hales told reporters when asked if he was surprised Khawaja was not with the Australian ODI squad.

"His record in the Big Bash, I think he averages mid-40s at 130 (strike rate), so he's an outstanding player across all formats.

"Hopefully he can pile on the runs and put himself back in that team."

Khawaja is averaging 27.44 in BBL|09 with two half-centuries, the same number as Hales after last night's knock.

The 31-year-old reached his half-century from just 28 balls to add a second significant score to his 68 against the Melbourne Renegades at Marvel Stadium.

One of the most destructive batters in the world on his day, Hales hopes Saturday's innings can be the start of a hot streak of scores.

"I've felt in reasonable touch this tournament without really getting that big, match-winning score and tonight was much the same," Hales said.

"I would have loved to have gone on a little bit deeper if I could be a bit critical, but I feel in really good touch and we've got some great grounds to play cricket at with Perth, Hobart and Canberra still to come.

"Hopefully I can get some more runs at the top of the order."

Australia Qantas ODI Tour of India 2020

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India squad: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami.

First ODI: January 14, Mumbai (D/N) (Fox & Kayo)

Second ODI: January 17, Rajkot (D/N) (Fox & Kayo)

Third ODI: January 19, Bengaluru (D/N) (Fox & Kayo)