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Twitter applauds as Khawaja channels ‘Australian mindset’ to make up for dropped sitter in style

By News Update

The measuring stick of a team’s greatness, especially in red ball cricket, can often be how sharp they are in the field and clinical in taking chances. Usman Khawaja’s dropped sitter in Perth on Friday put doubts over Australia’s status as one such beast but the veteran immediately redeemed himself.

India found themselves on the backfoot early in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener at the Perth stadium as the team was reduced to 51/4 by Lunch. The grass and bounce on offer meant the collapse continued after the break, despite spirited knocks from Rishabh Pant and Nitish Kumar Reddy, and eventually the debutant found himself with Mohammed Siraj on the crease trying to salvage some crucial runs. Even though Nitish failed in his pursuit, he did get a second life to make amends.

Following Bumrah’s dismissal on the last ball of the 49th over, Nitish added to his 35 by driving Cummins through the covers for a couple. The Aussie skipper responded with a short ball that was met with a wild hoick from the youngster that ballooned towards short midwicket. Usman Khawaja was in postion to finish off the job but the sun shining directly into his eyes meant the Kookaburra embarrasingly popped out of his palms. Nitish capitalized with a powerful down the ground and the increase in confidence culminated in another swipe off a short delivery. However, this time the ball travelled a bit further and Khawaja found himself sprinting backwards while peeking over his shoulders. The veteran eventually held onto a superb catch to wrap up India’s innings for 150.

Twitterati was all in praise of the determination shown by Khawaja.

Khwaja finally gets it

Tough one

Nice

Superb

Not good

Short delivery

First ball

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