Khawaja ‘emotional’ after very good ton ends Ashes struggles in England
U
sman Khawaja hailed an “emotional” first Ashes hundred in England, claiming the innings would “show to everyone that the last ten years hasn’t been a fluke”.
Khawaja made an unbeaten 126 as Australia reached stumps 311 for 5 on day two of the sequence opener at Edgbaston, trailing England by 82 runs.
The 36-year-old has tended to battle in English situations all through his profession, averaging lower than 18 right here since first touring for the 2013 Ashes.
He has, nevertheless, loved a exceptional run since being recalled to the facet firstly of final yr, scoring seven centuries, and has now carried that type into this sequence.
“It was the culmination of three Ashes tours in England and getting dropped in two of them. I don’t read the media but when I’m being sprayed by the crowd out there and as I’m going to the nets that I can’t score runs in England, I guess it was a bit more emotional than normal,” he stated.
“I feel like I’m saying this all the time – the same thing happened in India. Not that I have a point to prove but it’s nice to go out and score runs for Australia and show to everyone that the last ten years hasn’t been a fluke.”
Khawaja celebrated reaching his landmark in passionate type, hurling his bat into the Edgbaston sky earlier than embarking companion Alex Carey.
“I’m way more comfortable with being myself nowadays whereas when I was younger I was probably a bit worried about what I might look like,” he added.
“Now what you see is what you get. This is Usman. I don’t try to hide it. I’m not perfect. I make mistakes but I’m happy to show everyone the real me and I think they respect it more and I enjoy it more. I don’t know why the bat throw happened, but it happened and that was me.”