Published 14:42 IST, March 11th 2020
Justin Langer's heated confrontation with out-of-favour Usman Khawaja shocks Australia
Usman Khawaja ran out of luck in 2019 when he was dropped from the Australian Test side. Have a look at this tense account between him and coach Justin Langer.
In the last decade, Usman Khawaja has been one of Australian cricket's biggest finds with the batsman demonstrating a great talent for both Tests and the shorter format in cricket. While Khawaja is currently out of the Test side, docu-series The Test is set to take viewers on a journey through Usman Khawaja's career and temperament during the testing times that Australian cricket faced in 2018. Here is an account of some intense moments between coach Justin Langer and top-order batsman Usman Khawaja.
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Usman Khawaja honestly confronts Justin Langer
As reported by Wide World of Sports, the incidents between Justin Langer and Usman Khawaja occured in October 2018 when Australia were about to face Pakistan in their first Test series since the ball-tampering scandal at Newlands, earlier that year. Under the new head coach, Justin Langer, the Australian team was working on the batting collapses that it had been going through in the matches it had played. Langer instructed the batsmen to swap nets every time they got out in practice and Usman Khawaja was not particularly happy about this directive.
In the documentary, Usman Khawaja can be seen confronting Justin Langer and telling him how the net sessions seem to revolve more around not getting out than getting better. Langer then retorts back at Khawaja and tells him that not getting out is the focus of the moment since the team has had 20 batting collapses in the last 20 matches. Khawaja then adds that the training style does not suit his personal style. Speaking about the confrontation later, Khawaja speaks about how his motivation usually comes from the inside and how he does not like people telling him what to do. Langer, on the other hand, did not hold any grudges against Khawaja and revealed how the batsman's truthfulness has earned him his respect. This Test match was also the Test in which future superstar Marnus Labuschagne made his Test debut.
The entire confrontation and the Australian team's journey will soon be released on Amazon Prime Video. The team will now step into the action during the Australia vs New Zealand 1st ODI on March 13. AUS vs NZ Live streaming can be done on Hotstar and live broadcast will be available on the Star Sports Network.
Updated 14:42 IST, March 11th 2020