Shane Watson slams CA’s selection policy after Khawaja’s great run

Shane Watson

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, who is currently IPL side Delhi Capitals' assistant coach, has come down heavily on Cricket Australia (CA) for keeping Usman Khawaja out of Test contention for more than two years, given his pedigree and batting credentials.

Khawaja already has four centuries to his name this year and finished the recent three-Test series against Pakistan amassing 496 runs from five innings at an amazing average of 165.33. Khawaja's superb performances in 2022 have seen him climb to a career-best seventh in the latest ICC Test Rankings for batters.

Khawaja was dropped by the Australian selectors in August 2019 and didn't earn a Test recall until the fourth Ashes Test in the New Year at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

"Usman Khawaja has always been one of our best batters and one of the highest skilled batters in Australia and I could never believe when he wasn't picked," Watson told The ICC Review on Friday.

"It's awesome what he is doing now, but for me it is actually a bit sad that we have missed an opportunity in the previous four or five years to be able to see that version of him playing for Australia."

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