IND vs AUS 2023: Don’t expect the pitch to get better, says Usman Khawaja

Australian opener Usman Khawaja doesn’t expect the pitch to get any better in the third Test match against India at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. India collapsed at 109 after Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first on a minefield of a pitch.

Virat Kohli top-scored with 22 runs but none of the other Indian batters looked at home on a difficult day-one pitch. However, Usman Khawaja was the stand-out batter on the opening day as he scored 60 runs off 147 balls.

The left-hander showed right resistance in the middle against the Indian spinners as he batted with guile. Khawaja consistently found gaps in the field to rotate the strike and he added a crucial alliance of 96 runs with Marnus Labuschagne.

Khawaja made good use of the crease to score his runs and he looked at ease against the Indian spinners. Australia finished the opening day at 156-4 with a crucial lead of 47 runs and the visitors have put themselves in front.

Usman Khawaja said while talking to Star Sports after the end of day’s play, “I am not sure to be honest (what I did differently). I executed my plans, tried to score when I saw a scoring opportunity and respected the good ball. It is not rocket science, it was good to get a partnership with Marnus, felt like the start was the toughest time to bat with the new ball being inconsistent but it was nice to get the partnership.”

Giving his two cents on the pitch, he said, “It is not an easy wicket out there. It is hard to say (if the pitch changed), it was spinning in the morning and spinning in the afternoon, it is a spin-friendly wicket. We will know more tomorrow but I don’t expect it to get any better. I sweep on length most times, the line sometimes when the offspinner goes down the leg and I used the sweep more intermittently. I did the same thing last week too and it is good to have in your arsenal. The plan hasn’t changed but it has been dictated by the pitch and how the bowlers are bowling at you.”

It is indeed a difficult pitch as the ball is turning square. In the opening session of the day, the Australian spinners got an average of 4.9 degrees of turn, which is huge.

Australia are in a commanding position and the visitors will look to strengthen their lead on the second day’s play.