Usman Khawaja is once again set to feature for Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa at the Lords Cricket Ground in England, starting on June 11.
The batter had previously featured in the 2023 edition, where Australia handed India a 209-run defeat to clinch their first-ever WTC title.
Khawaja has been with the national team for quite some time now, as the batsman from Queensland has gone on to become one of the important cogs in the Test format for his team.
Despite minor setbacks, the Australian management has backed the batter quite well, which he has repaid in due time with his performances with the bat.
Khawaja has scored the most runs by any Australian batter in the current WTC cycle and will look to continue to help his team to win a second successive Test mace.
Meanwhile, Khawaja has dropped a major hint on his retirement ahead of the WTC Final.
Usman Khawaja drops major hint on retirement ahead of WTC Final clash against South Africa
Ahead of the high-voltage clash against South Africa in the World Test Championship Final, Usman Khawaja has made it clear that he isn't moving away from the game anytime soon. The batter has said that age is irrelevant to him, as he feels he still has a lot to contribute.
Speaking to the ICC, Khawaja said, "To me, age is irrelevant. If I'm still enjoying my game, still training really hard, I'm still scoring runs, still contributing to the team where I can, I've still got the hunger. I don't really think of anything as different, but I'm very open. I'm really just enjoying my cricket at the moment. Everything that has a beginning has an end."
He further revealed that he just wants to enjoy every moment, taking one match at a time.
"I don't know when that end will be, but for me it's all about staying in the moment, enjoying it one Test match at a time, one series at a time. And when it's time to hang up the boots, I'll gracefully do that, whatever it be."
Khawaja was asked about who would be his opening partner for the WTC Final. The batter simply replied that he is only preoccupied by the thoughts of facing the deadly Protea bowling attack.
"Not really, to be honest. Opening is so tough...I'm worried about how the ball is going to bowl to me and what I need to do The opposite, whoever's opening with me is thinking exactly the same. Then we're kind of in the middle working together how we're going to blunt out this attack."
He further mentioned that his game doesn't change based on who his opening partner is, as he feels the team's needs come first, then the work with his partner at the other end.
"It doesn't really change my game too much. If anything, the change was probably a little bit quieter without Davey. But for me, it's just about what I need to do for my team and then where I need to work with my partner while I'm out there."
Since David Warner's retirement, Australia have tried out the likes of Steve Smith, Nathan McSweeney, Travis Head, and recently Sam Konstas with Khawaja but are yet to settle on a concrete opening partner for the southpaw.
As it seems, Khawaja is in no mood to retire from the longest format anytime soon, which would surely lighten up the mood of the fans.