Australian batsman Usman Khawaja has been shuttled up and down the batting order ever since David Warner and Steve Smith have returned to the side after serving their one-year bans for ball tampering. In the lead up to the ICC World Cup, Khawaja had formed a successful ODI opening pair with skipper Aaron Finch before being asked to vacate that pace for Warner.
The Australian southpaw notched up an impressive 89 against Bangladesh in their last World Cup game at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Thursday (June 20). In that game, Khawaja came ahead of Smith, who has batted in the No. 3 position. Smith batted at No. 6 against Bangladesh, a position occupied by Khawaja in the game against Pakistan.
“It’s all above board, everyone is communicating, everyone is talking and no one – myself, Smithy, Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) – no-one really has any issue batting anywhere,” Khawaja told the media.
“Where the game situation is for us, down there wherever we are, is what we will play. Whether that is against India where we needed 10 an over, or a first innings like this (against Bangladesh) where we are setting a total, we are just playing a game situation.
