Khawaja finds the tempo for success

Usman Khawaja was touched by a gift from one of his childhood idols, Adam Gilchrist, earlier this week.

Yet Khawaja's acknowledgement that attempting to channel the iconic wicketkeeper-batter's attacking instinct on the opening day of the first NRMA Insurance Test would be foolhardy proved instrumental in the 36-year-old continuing his fairy-tale return to international cricket.

Khawaja does not bother to hide his giddiness when meeting his heroes, another of which he met after play in Perth on Wednesday as he engaged in a long discussion with former West Indies allrounder Carl Hooper, who is commentating for the ABC.

It was also palpable as he explained how special it had been to receive a memento from Gilchrist in the lead-in to the summer opener against the Windies.

Gilchrist is the reason Khawaja wears No.18 on all his playing shirts – except, curiously, for Australia, given it had belonged to James Muirhead when he started his international career and has since been taken by Michael Neser.

Upon hearing of the Test opener's preference for the number, Gilchrist presented Khawaja with a signed No.18 2007 World Cup jersey.

"I loved the way he batted – he was an entertainer," Khawaja told cricket.com.au. "He'd go out and smack them everywhere. As a kid I just idolised him."

After his unbeaten 154 on day one, Marnus Labuschagne lauded his Queensland captain's batting rhythm, and Khawaja concedes a green, seaming, poppy Perth Stadium pitch required a very un-Gilchrist like approach on the opening day.

The pair successfully ground out the visiting bowlers and crawled along at a little more than two runs per over, before Labuschagne and Steve Smith (59no) capitalised on a tiring attack and a surface that quickened up in the final session.

"Neither Marnus nor myself batted like Adam Gilchrist," said Khawaja, whose 65 marked his eighth fifty-plus score in 14 innings since his Test recall earlier this year. "It wasn't a wicket where you could.

"They bowled reasonably well, they didn't give us much especially at the start. It was tough to score, it never felt easy."

Khawaja has insisted his preparation to this Test summer that has seen him bat at No.4 for the Bulls to accommodate regular openers Joe Burns and Matthew Renshaw, even though he opens for the Test side, was not an issue. 

The left-hander looked every bit the opener as the Windies nipped the ball around during the first two sessions, requiring Khawaja to draw on his judgment.

"It feels like I've batted against the new ball for my entire career," he said. "I opened the batting in grade cricket, I opened in all white-ball forms and I've batted three for my entire first-class career until the last few years.

"And when you bat three…I'm coming in at 1.3 overs or 4.5 overs a lot of times. You're coming in early, it's pretty much like opening.

"I've faced the new ball my entire career so it doesn't feel too different.

"If you bat one, two or three, it's very similar. If you're in the top order it's going to be tough work (against the) new ball, it's going to seam around.

"You need a good technique, you need to be able to leave well and pounce when you get an opportunity to score runs. Davey Warner has done that for a long time, any opener who has been successful over a long period has those fundamentals.

"In Australia, I think by far the top three is the hardest place to bat. If you make runs there, you've earnt it."

Khawaja's red-hot form should see him tip over the 1,000-run mark in Tests for the 2022 calendar year in the coming weeks, or even days if he gets another bat in this match given he is now only 47 runs short.

He is essentially in a race with Joe Root (973 runs) to be the year's leading batter given the man at the top of the charts currently, Jonny Bairstow on 1,061, will not feature again due to injury.

"One thing that's so good with Uz, and one thing that I've really learned a lot from him is his tempo," said Labuschagne.

"He's got such an even tempo through his whole game, where sometimes with me I'm a bit more of a rollercoaster.

"I think that's why opening really suits him so much – he's just got such an even tempo.

"He scales up, plays the situation, understanding that when Roston (Chase) came on early, let's put pressure on him.

"He takes it on, really reads the game well and he's an amazing player.

"His last twelve months especially, but his whole career.

"He's always been beautiful to watch."

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v West Indies

Nov 30 – Dec 4: First Test, Perth Stadium, 1:20pm AEDT

Dec 8-12: Second Test, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner

West Indies squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Devon Thomas

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