Usman Khawaja, who is recovering from a knee surgery, was seen in the commentary box for Fox Sports during the 1st T20I between India and Australia at Brisbane on Wednesday and he lashed out at the past Australian players, who have been criticizing the current Australian team, especially for the batsmen’s shot selection.
While Shane Warne on air went on the rant against Australian batting coach Graeme Hick saying he should be the next to go as the batsmen are repeating the same mistakes under him, Andrew Symonds was also the one who criticized Marcus Stoinis attempted a reverse sweep saying: “That’s not on.”
Replying to the same, as quoted in foxsports.com.au, Khawaja said, “It’s expected. You train for it, you play for it, you do it all the time. I hear you guys talking a lot about the classic cricket shots. The game’s changed, we do play different shots now.”
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The southpaw also insisted that while the traditionalists don’t like the modern day shots like the reverse sweep, the ramp, but he feels that those are the little risks batsmen now have to take in order to keep the importance of those classic cricket shots, as the game has evolved.
Khawaja further explained, “A lot of the old traditionalists don’t like the reverse sweeps, the paddles. But sometimes, they’re the little risks you have to take to bring in those classic cricket shots. The game has evolved a fair bit from where it was. Sometimes it does look ugly when it doesn’t come but when it does everybody loves it and that’s the entertainment of T20 cricket.”
While commentating alongside Australian great Adam Gilchrist and Symonds, Khawaja did not mince his words when saying there is a disconnect between what former players see from the comfort of home or the commentary box and what the players playing the game currently are trying to do.
Usman Khawaja expressed, “The game has changed a bit in the last 10 or so years. That’s no disrespect to guys of your era who were excellent players. You can only go on what you play on but the game’s evolving and unless you’re playing it and you’re part of it you do feel like sometimes there is a bit of a disconnect between what the players are trying to achieve and what the outside world, especially traditionalists and former players, are seeing.”
