Cricket World Player of the Week - Usman Khawaja

Player of the series in the three-match Test series between Pakistan and Australia, Usman Khawaja was head and shoulders above fellow batsmen in the series.

Khawaja finished the Test series as the highest run-scorer with 496 runs - just four shy of the 500 mark - at an average of 165.33 from the 5 innings of 3 Test matches.

He scored his runs at a dogged strike rate of under 50 with two centuries and two half-centuries to his name, with the help of 51 boundaries and 2 sixes and ensured that Australia put big runs on the board time and again.

In fact, he was the only Australian batter to hit a century in the entire series. Had it not been for his efforts, the Australian bowlers, led beautifully by captain Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc might not have had enough runs on the board to push for a victory on each and every occasion.

Khawaja has had a stop-start career, with him having been dropped after Ashes 2019. One can only imagine what all he could have achieved had he been persisted with.

Still, the opening batsman is not one to sulk and is making up for lost time quite quickly. Since his return to the fold in the home Ashes, he has scored 4 Test centuries to go along with a couple of 90s.

It was Khawaja's 91 in the first innings and 104 not out in the second innings of the third Test match that helped Australia take the Test by 115 runs and the historic series 1-0.

It couldn't be anyone else!

With 496 runs for the series, Usman Khawaja is a thoroughly deserving Player of the Series! #PAKvAUS pic.twitter.com/GSauLjPlit

— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) March 25, 2022

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