'Main aa raha hu': Usman Khawaja departs for Border-Gavaskar trophy after visa struggles

Usman Khawaja took to his official Instagram handle in the early hours of Thursday and revealed that he has departed for the Border - Gavaskar trophy in India. The star opener left Australia a day or two after the team’s scheduled departure due to visa issues. As reported by the Associated Press, other members of the 18-man Australian Test team were allowed to board their flights to India on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It is understood that the Aussie side will train for the much-anticipated four-match Test series in Bangalore. It is pertinent to mention that this was not the first time Khawaja faced visa challenges in a bid to come to India. The Pakistan-born was previously denied a permit to enter the country in 2011 because he was not born in Australia.

Usman Khawaja’s thumping return to Test cricket

Interestingly, Khawaja has not played a single Test match of his 56-Test career in India. However, he has made limited-overs appearances for the Aussies in the country. He has been in top form since making his return to the Australian lineup during the Ashes 2021-22 win over England, which came after a three-year gap.

Since returning to the Test team in January 2022, Khawaja has hit a total of 1275 runs in 12 matches, at an average of 79.69. In the process, he has hit five centuries and five fifties. At the same time, his highest knock in the last two years stands at 195* runs.

India vs Australia four-match Test series: Schedule

Australia is slated to tour India for a four-match Test series which is scheduled to begin on February 9. After the first Test concludes on February 13, the second Test will begin on February 17, before the third Test kicks off on March 1. The iconic Border-Gavaskar series will conclude with the fourth Test, which begins on March 9.

Full squads for the Border-Gavaskar trophy 

India’s Test squad for the first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav

Australia’s squad: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warne