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Family dramas took a toll on Usman Khawaja

CricketFamily dramas took a toll on Usman Khawaja

Australian batsman Usman Khawaja admits the arrest of his brother only days before the first Test against India took a toll on him this summer.

The No.3 made a sparkling return to form during the second Test against Sri Lanka, hitting his eighth Test ton after just one half-century in his previous six matches.

Khawaja entered the summer as Australia’s most important batsmen, but police charges surrounding his brother Arsalan proved to be a distraction.

“It’s been tough. It’s something you don’t expect to happen,” he told reporters on Sunday.

“I’m very close to my family, so at some level I think it made it tougher to go out and concentrate and execute my skills.

“At the same time while I was playing cricket you sort of forget about everything because you’re only concentrating on cricket.”

Before his unbeaten 101 on Sunday, Khawaja’s place in the Australian side was under threat.

The innings couldn’t have come at a better time as the match at Manuka Oval is Australia’s last Test before the Ashes in August.

Australian great Ian Chappell said before the start of day three that he would leave Khawaja out of the first Test at Edgbaston.

“I think there will be a few of them (Australian batsmen) who will have problems against (James) Anderson and (Stuart) Broad and the English attack,” Chappell told Macquarie Sports Radio before the third day’s play.

“Khawaja, I’ve never been sold on him anyhow.”

But Khawja put that criticism aside and made the most of captain Tim Paine not enforcing the follow-on, feasting on a tiring Sri Lanka bowling attack in the second innings.

He became his team’s fourth centurion of the match against the hapless tourists after no Australian batsman had scored a hundred in the previous six Test matches.

Khawaja’s previous best score of the six-Test home summer was 72 against India in Perth.

Sunday’s innings also ended Khawaja’s struggles against Sri Lanka, with 26 his previous highest score against them in six Tests.

Khawaja entered the home summer as Australia’s most important batsmen in the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner following a career-defining 141 against Pakistan in the UAE in October.

That innings saved Australia from certain defeat and they hung on for a draw.

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