Usman Khawaja, the Australian opener, continues to play poorly against India at home in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
In the fifth and final Test in Sydney on Friday, Australian opener Usman Khawaja lost to Indian pace leader Jasprit Bumrah once more, continuing his poor play in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy match against India at home. The ball entered KL Rahul’s grasp at slips after touching the outside edge of Khawaja’s bat during the final delivery of the first day’s play. After only two runs in ten balls, Khawaja was back in the hut. In this series, Khawaja has a terrible record against Bumrah. The 38-year-old has faced the fiery Indian pacer for 112 deliveries in eight innings, scoring just 33 runs and being dismissed six times. He only manages a batting average of 5.50 against Bumrah.
Ravindra Jadeja of England dismissed Alastair Cook six times in India in 2016, the only other time an Indian bowler has dismissed an opposing batsman as many times in a series.
Khawaja has only amassed 143 runs at an average of 17.87 over nine innings in five Test matches in this series, including one half-century. His highest rating is 57. In this series, he’s only manufactured one hundred fifty.
Following his comeback in 2022, Khawaja had two successful years at bat before his form took a severe turn for the worst in 2024. In nine Test matches and eighteen innings last year, he scored a mere 415 runs at an average of 25.93, including two half-centuries and a top score of 75.Khawaja has played 34 Test matches since he was recalled, scoring 2,707 runs in 63 innings at an average of over 48, including seven hundreds and 13 fifties, with the highest score being 195*. However, his recent performance has raised concerns. It remains to be seen if Khawaja will be benched or selected to play in the upcoming Ashes series at home later this year.
India chose to bat first in the match after winning the toss. As the top order threw away their wickets, particularly Virat Kohli (17), who continued to struggle with outside off-stump deliveries, India got off to another dismal start.But India reached 185/10 in 72.2 overs thanks to the efforts of captain Jasprit Bumrah (22 in 17 balls, with three fours and a six), Rishabh Pant (40 in 98 balls, with three fours and a six), and Ravindra Jadeja (26 in 95 balls, with three fours).
The Australians’ best bowler, Scott Boland (4/31) was once again a source of frustration for Indian hitters. Pat Cummins received 2/37 and Mitchell Starc took 3/49.
