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Usman Khawaja (Source: X)
Australia's veteran opener Usman Khawaja said that in an emergency, he will leave the Quran and take the baggy green with him. While many thought it was a difficult answer for the Pakistani-origin cricketer, he did not scratch his head to reveal the choice and gave a fitting reason.
Khawaja was born in Islamabad, Pakistan before emigrating to Australia with his family when he was four years old. He made his international debut in the 2010–11 Ashes series, becoming the first cricketer of Pakistani origin to play a Test for Australia.
During an interaction on the ABC Program Shaun Micallef's Eve of Destruction, Khawaja was asked which of his favourite possessions he would leave behind in an emergency.
"Actually, it's very easy, I'd leave behind the Quran, I'd take the baggy green. It's one of the easiest books to have access to, so I'll take the baggy green,” he replied.
Khawaja is one of the vital assets of the Australian test team currently. He has played so far 73 Test matches, scoring 5451 runs at an average of 45.42, including 15 hundreds and 26 half-centuries. He finished 2023 as the highest run-scorer in Tests with 1210 runs in 13 matches at 52.60.
Khawaja gears up for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
Usman Khawaja will next be in action for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India, starting on November 22. He was the highest run-getter in the previous series, scoring 333 runs in seven innings at 47. 57. He is expected to lead the batting unit of Australia once again in the upcoming five-match series.
“I take it as a sign of respect and I know that Indians love beating Australia in any sort of form of cricket. And the tradition that Australia has had over so many years as being one of the dominating teams in world cricket has staked that reputation,” Khawaja said.
“I think, yeah, for Indians, it’s always been the case to beat Australia. And more recently, you know, since the rise of India and IPL and everything else that happened, it’s the same way with Australia against India. And particularly since India’s beaten Australia in Australia the last two times they’ve come out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It just means a little bit more,” he added.