Khawaja to conquer demons in 'special' Pakistan return

Even without the powerful pull of his ancestral and emotional ties to the nation of his birth, Usman Khawaja believes his latest sub continental sojourn will stand as a defining difference from his earlier Test tours to the region.

Throughout an eleven-year international career that has taken him in and out of Australian teams as well as sidelined for lengthy stints through injury, few experiences have proved more harrowing than his past two Test campaigns in Asia.

The first of those was Australia's forgettable 0-3 series loss in Sri Lanka in 2016, when Khawaja – who had crowned his return to the Test line-up with centuries in four consecutive matches across the preceding home summer – found himself flummoxed by spin bowling on dry, dusty pitches.

So low did the left-hander's confidence sink, he suffered the ignominy of being clean bowled in near identical circumstances twice on the same day by Sri Lanka off-spinner Dilruwan Perera, which led to him losing his place in the Australia team for the final Test of the campaign.

A year later, having won back his spot and installed as Australia's number three for the two-Test tour to Bangladesh, Khawaja recorded scores of one (run out) and one (top-edged sweep) in the opening match was replaced by all-rounder Hilton Cartwright for the second.

But while those experiences proved bitter for the left-hander whose deft touch and capacity to play the ball late seemingly saw him suited to spin-friendly conditions, Khawaja used them to make adjustments to his game that have since seen him flourish in Asia, in both red and white-ball formats.

"I think you just learn, day in and day out what works and what doesn't," Khawaja said today from the Australia team's hotel in Islamabad where they arrived yesterday, with their first training session of the three-Test Qantas Tour of Pakistan scheduled for tomorrow.

"It's both a mindset and technical analysis thing, and if you don't then you're going to make the same mistakes over and over again.

"I took onus on myself that I wasn't going to listen to anyone else about how I needed to bat on the subcontinent.

"I had tried that and failed, so I made sure I did learn from it.

"There was a lot of work that went into it.

"I'm not going to lie, it's quite tough work."

Khawaja's road to redemption began in India during 2018, when he was part of an Australia A touring party skippered by current Test squad mate Mitchell Marsh and which included incumbent Test players Travis Head and Alex Carey.

He finished the quadrangular limited-overs series (against two Indian teams and South Africa A) leg of the tour as Australia's leading runs scorer, and posted the highest individual score of the two unofficial 'Tests' against India A with 127 as an opener at Bengaluru.

Those efforts saw him reinstated in a reshaped Australia Test team for the first series after the sandpaper scandal, and his second innings of 141 against Pakistan in the similar-to-subcontinent conditions of the UAE enabled Australia to secure a draw in a match they seemed destined to lose.

It also helped Khawaja reclaim a berth in Australia's ODI outfit as they fine-tuned for the 2019 ICC World Cup in England, and in 10 preparatory matches in India and the UAE he rattled on 655 runs at an average of 65 with two hundreds and five half-centuries.

Far from being a liability on sub continental pitches (and their near equivalents), Khawaja had become a gilt-edged asset and will enter the upcoming Test series – starting in nearby Rawalpindi on Friday – brimming with confidence as Australia's incumbent opener.

"I've been to India A series in India, scored hundreds in India there and in white-ball series," Khawaja said of the successes that have consigned those earlier Test trials to distant memory.

"And then obviously playing in Dubai (in his comeback Test against Pakistan) it wasn't just a one-off there, I've done it time and time again in different teams.

"That was five or six years ago those (Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) series, and they were great learning experiences.

"If I didn't have those experiences, I probably wouldn't be able to develop my game.

"Now I've given myself the best chance to score in these conditions, and to know what I need to do.

"If it doesn't work out from there, I can live with that.

"But beforehand, in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, I probably didn't really understand where I needed to be in those conditions."

The other factor Khawaja hopes will yield him vastly different results from his previous Test sojourns to sub continental Asia is the compacted nature of Australia's schedule in Pakistan.

Having flown into Islamabad late on Sunday amid heavy security for Australia's first men's team visit to the Islamic republic since 1998, Pat Cummins' team have just three training days prior to play starting in the first Test.

The visitors restricted themselves to an exercise session in their hotel's gym today as a number of the 18-player squad and accompanying support staff battled jet lag, although Khawaja claimed the title of "best sleeper in the team" by kipping uninterrupted until 8am this morning.

But after previous unsuccessful subcontinent Test tours included a lengthy acclimatisation schedule, often with warm-up matches or expanded intra-squad trial games, the 35-year-old is keen to glean whether a truncated lead-in delivers better on-field results.

"It's not the worst thing," Khawaja said of a schedule that sees all three Tests completed in as many weeks.

"We've been on lots of subcontinent tours where we've had two weeks preparation, and still haven't been that great.

"So this might be the way to go.

"There's only so much you can say before a Test match anyway, so I'm actually looking forward to a short build-up this time to see how it goes.

"It could be a blessing disguise, or it might not be ... we're about to find out."

Khawaja said the much-discussed security detail that will accompany the Australia team throughout the tour was significant but added it was not overtly obvious with the armed guards "doing a pretty good job of being around but not being seen".

However, the strict security and bio-security bubble in which both teams remain will likely prevent him meeting up with members of his extended family in Karachi (site of the second Test) and friends in Islamabad where he was born and his family lived prior to emigrating to Australia in 1990.

The nature of pitches Australia are expecting for their first Pakistan Test campaign in 24 years also remain unseen and unknown, at least until the squad makes their first visit to Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium tomorrow for training.

What Khawaja seems more certain of is the support of Pakistan fans who he believes will not only rejoice in the return of an Australia touring team after such a long absence but wish him personal success albeit with a very clear caveat.

"I think they'll hope I get runs, but they'll hope Australia gets smashed at the same time," Khawaja said with a broad smile.

"Being born here, it's going to be pretty cool walking out there and playing the game but I don't expect a hostile crowd.

"I've got a lot of support here in Pakistan, always.

"The fact that I'm playing in Pakistan is very special and it's something I've always wanted to do.

"I grew up down the road (in Islamabad), so there's a bit of sentiment definitely ... but once the game starts you don't really think about that stuff."

Qantas Tour of Pakistan 2022

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Wasim, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood. Reserves: Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Haris

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner. On standby: Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Renshaw

March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi

March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi

March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore

Australia ODI and T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi

March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi

April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi

April 5: Only T20I, Rawalpindi

All matches to be broadcast in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports