‘Doesn’t make any sense to me’: Ian Chappell takes aim at Indian bowlers after Usman Khawaja’s special ton in 4th Test

Former Australian skipper Ian Chappell was mighty impressed with Usman Khawaja as the star opener played a stellar knock to put Steve Smith and Co. ahead of Rohit Sharma’s India on Day 1 of the 4th Test match. Ending his century drought against India on Thursday, Khawaja smashed his 14th Test ton to stamp Australia’s dominance during the opening day of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy decider at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Raving about the Australian opener during the series decider, Chappell said that Khawaja’s calmness in the 2023 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been exemplary. Chappell, who had nothing but praise for the Australian opener, also questioned the bowling tactics of the hosts against the in-former batter. The former Australian cricketer slammed the Indian bowlers for bowling around the wicket to southpaw Khawaja on the opening day of the 4th Test in Ahmedabad.

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“One thing I can’t understand is India’s desire to come around the wicket the whole time to a left-hander. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. You speak to all the good left-handers that I’ve spoken to, and they say that right-arm over the wicket is the toughest guy to face. It’s okay every now and again for a bit of a change around the wicket,” Chappell told ESPNcricinfo.

Khawaja played a sublime knock of 104 off 251 balls in the 1st innings at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The Australian opener remained unbeaten with middle-order Cameron Green as the star batters propelled Smith and Co. to 255-4 in 90 overs. All-rounder Green played a quick-fire knock of 49 off 64 balls on Thursday. For the hosts, pacer Mohammed Shami bagged two wickets and leaked 65 runs in 17 overs.

“Maybe around the wicket works more in England. But in India, ridiculous, particularly to a player like Usman Khawaja, whose great strength is his onside, and we saw that today. Why would you angle the ball into his pads when that’s exactly what he wants? Khawaja looked at ease the whole time. India haven’t come up with a solution to Khawaja’s batting, and it’s really starting to hurt them,” Chappell added.

Khawaja has surpassed Indian skipper Rohit to become the leading run-getter in the four-match Test series between India and Australia. Indian captain Rohit has amassed 207 runs in 5 innings against Australia. As of Day 1 of the 4th Test, opener Khawaja accumulated 257 runs in 7 innings against India.

Khawaja has smashed over 4,418 runs in 60 Test matches for Australia. The 36-year-old made his Test debut against England at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in 2011. The senior batter has played 60 Test matches for the Baggy Greens. Khawaja has also played 40 One Day International (ODIs) and 9 T20Is for Australia.

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