Australian opener Usman Khawaja was named the Test Cricket of the Year as half of the ICC Awards for 2023. Khawaja turned the sixth Australian participant to become the Test Cricketer of the Year after the likes of Ricky Ponting (2006), Michael Clarke (2013), Mitchell Johnson (2014), Steve Smith (2015 and 2017) and Pat Cummins (2019). The veteran left-hander was the main run-getter in Tests in 2023, scoring 1,210 runs together with three centuries and 6 fifties at a mean of 52.60.
Khawaja trumped the likes of R Ashwin, compatriot Travis Head and Joe Root in the race to win the Test cricketer of the 12 months award. The 37-year-old was knowledgeable about the similar on the broadcast of the Australia-West Indies second Test in Brisbane and though he admitted that he had recognized the similar for every week now however talked about that he was honoured and that it was a outcome of laborious work he has put behind the scenes.
Khawaja, when requested by Adam Gilchrist about his favorite second of the 12 months, recalled the Edgbaston Test in opposition to England – the opening recreation of the Ashes 2023. Khawaja, who was the prime run-getter in the India sequence earlier than the World Test Championship closing together with a century and a pair of fifties, slammed a powerful 141 in the first innings and adopted it up with a 65 in the second innings in the Ashes opener whereas chasing a goal as Australia received a thriller by simply two wickets.
“It’s a great privilege. I have been playing cricket for a long time and I didn’t think in my wildest dreams that at 37, I’ll be winning ICC men’s Test player of the year. So, yeah very excited,” Khawaja mentioned in an ICC video.
Khawaja was half of the World Test Championship-winning Australian workforce after retaining the Ashes, which additionally went on to win the World Cup later in the 12 months.
