Usman Khawaja recalled to Australian XI for second ODI vs New Zealand

Wellington, 5 February।  Australian opening batsman Usman Khawaja has been recalled to the One-Day International side for the second cricket game against New Zealand here on Saturday.

The 29-year-old, who has not featured in an ODI for three years now, believes it will be a new challenge.

"It's a new challenge out there so nothing I did previously has any effect on what I hopefully do tomorrow. The past is done. I'm feeling really good right now but that doesn't always mean I'm going to score runs. I'm just going to try and contribute to the team to hopefully get us a win in this second game," Khawaja was quoted as saying by espncricinfo on Friday.

The left-hander has been in rollicking form in domestic circuit but insists he does not know if he can replicate on Saturday the good form he has been having.

"Different conditions, different team. I'm not a big believer in form to be honest so I just got to go out and keep doing the same things -- watching the ball, keeping it simple," he said.

New Zealand have done well here in the last few years, and Khawaja believes Australia have to be at their best to outdo the hosts but he added it won’t be a repeat of the Eden Park ODI where they lost poorly.

"They're a very good one-day team as we saw them making the World Cup final, and they're very good at home as we are as well," Khawaja said.

"They're going to come hard again … if they win this one they win the series, but we can't concentrate too much other than what we've been doing. We had an off day the other day - no matter who you are, that happens.”

"We don't have to worry about that too much, we just have to keep doing the basics right and we're a good enough team to do the basics right. If everyone plays and everyone does what they're supposed to we're pretty confident we can come away with a win. But then again if they do the same thing it will be pretty tough too."

Agency