Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and the hand of destiny
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It was not long ago that there was a No.3 batsman from Queensland making heads turn with his performances. Back then, had someone said that Australia would have a #3 from Queensland ruling World Cricket, it wouldn’t have been hard to believe that the name they were talking about was Usman Khawaja.
It is sometimes easy to forget the kind of talent that Usman Khawaja was. In 2008, a then 21-year-old Khawaja, on debut, top-scored for New South Wales against a mighty Victorian attack that possessed four front-runners for the Aussie national side - Peter Siddle, Clint McKay, Bryce McGain and Andrew McDonald. He batted No.7 in a team that had Phil Jaques, Simon Katich and Dominic Thornley, but his eloquent strokeplay coupled with his fearless attitude was eye-catching.
By the end of 2012, he’d firmly established himself as one of the biggest, if not the biggest, prospects in Australian cricket. His hundred in Hobart on a diabolical wicket in November 2012, till date, is considered as one of the greatest knocks in Sheffield Shield history. "It was one of the best hundreds I've seen in Shield cricket,” said the then Queensland coach Darren Lehmann of Khawaja’s knock. It indeed was.
And at that point, it looked like the left-hander was destined for greatness, much like Marnus Labuschagne is, now. Spookily enough, there are more similarities between Khawaja and Labuschagne than you would have ever imagined. The list might be long and some might even be creepy, but it is what it is. Eerily, it starts right from their childhood.
Moving to Australia and representing Queensland
Both batsmen are not native-Australian and emigrated to the country in their childhood, which is perhaps why both have a surname that is almost always incorrectly pronounced by the masses. Eventually, both made their way through the ranks - school cricket, junior cricket, grade cricket and then state - before representing Australia and at some point of time, both played for the Queensland state cricket team.
A not-so-great introduction to Test cricket and the Sydney connection
Both batsmen made their Test debuts in times of turmoil when the national team was in complete disarray - Khawaja on the back of England winning the Ashes in Australia for the first time in 24 years and Labuschagne on the back of the Newlands ball-tampering saga. And incidentally, both batsmen played their first Test on home soil at the SCG - they scored 37 & 38 respectively.
Thriving in the county circuit
Both Khawaja and Labuschagne, at the age of 24, had County stints with Division 2 clubs. Khawaja with Derbyshire in 2011 and 2012 where he scored over 700 runs average over 40 and Labuschagne with Glamorgan in 2019 scoring over 1000 runs, averaging over 65.
Unexpected heroes
Khawaja, who had an unwanted reputation of being a dead duck against spin, stunned the whole world by grafting his way to a marathon 141 on a Day 5 Dubai wicket to improbably save a Test against Pakistan against all odds, in 2018. Labuschagne, on the other hand, turned out to be the ultimate surprise package at Lord’s in 2019, replacing Steve Smith and scoring an impeccable half-century to keep his country’s arch-enemies at Bay, helping his side salvage a draw.
The summer of 2015 and 2019
The summer of 2019 belonged to Labuschagne, but his Queensland teammate Khawaja had a summer almost equivalent to that in 2015. The Aussie summer of 2019 saw ‘Marnus’ score 896 runs in 8 innings at an average of 112.00, which included a couple of tons versus the Kiwis, while the summer of 2015 saw ‘Uzzie’ score 504 runs in 5 innings at an average of 126.00, which, well, you guessed it right, had a couple of tons versus the Kiwis.
Gabba, breaking the ‘century duck’ and seven in four
It took Labuschagne 16 innings to score his first Test century, but he made up for it by scoring 4 tons in his next 7 innings, with all being 140+ scores. Khawaja, incidentally, took 18 innings to score his first but he, too, ended up scoring 4 off his next 7, with three of them being 140+ scores. It gets more interesting, though. Labuschagne broke the ‘century duck’ by smashing a 185 at the Gabba last year, and in 2015, Khawaja, too, got the monkey off his back with a century at the Gabba, albeit it being a 171.
Overshadowing the best
Both men, at some point in their careers, overshadowed the best batsmen in their team. Labuschagne, post the Ashes, took the limelight away from Smith, well and truly establishing himself as the best batsman in the team, something that came out of the blue. And back in 2016, Khawaja, through the sheer weight of runs he scored in the BBL - 345 runs at an average of 172.50 with 2 centuries and 2 fifties - forced his way into Australia’s T20 World Cup squad, forcing David Warner to drop to No.4. He - and not Warner or Finch - was seen as the first name on the teamsheet.
All facts, all evidence, all coincidences pointed towards the careers of both men heading in the same direction, towards greatness. Except it didn’t - at least for one. It was when a certain force called ‘destiny’ played its hand. And Usman Khawaja, unfortunately, was on the wrong side of it.
The Hand of Destiny
It all began with “THAT” controversial DRS decision in Manchester in Ashes 2013, one which eventually ended up eating two years of his career. A DRS howler from third umpire Kumar Dharmasena - which is described by many as the ‘worst decision of all time’ - meant that Khawaja, whose place in the side was under immense pressure, made his way back to the pavilion for a modest score of 1. He would then go on to post scores of 24, 0 and 21 in the next three innings before not playing another Test for two long years, until 2015.
And just two Tests after making a swashbuckling comeback to Test cricket in the summer of 2015 - amassing scores of 174, 9* and 121 - Khawaja suffered the first of many hamstring injuries that would go on to plague him for the rest of his career. The most notable and unfortunate one, perhaps, was right before the 2019 World Cup semi-final, in the last group game versus South Africa, where he was coming on the back of two 80+ scores in three innings.
And whilst his lack of consistency was to blame for his own undoing, he, at times, was the victim caught in the crossfire of the wrath of the selectors. Khawaja was dropped for the tour of India in 2017 despite averaging over 58 in the corresponding home summer, citing his weakness against spin that was exposed in the tour of Sri Lanka in 2016. Cue 2020, three years later, he has been axed for the ODI series against India, despite averaging 76 in the country and scoring over 1000 runs in ODIs last year.
On the other hand, albeit the sample set being a minuscule one, Labuschagne’s career, however, has already shown enough signs of it being on the other end of the spectrum. It all started with his maiden call-up to the UAE tour despite boasting a Shield average south of 38; not many batsmen get that privilege, you see. And from there, one by one, the stars began to align for him. First, he was the beneficiary of the post-India debacle clean-up, one which saw competitors Shaun Marsh, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb and Mitchell Marsh all face the axe. An extraordinary season with Glamorgan - helped by coach Matt Maynard’s inputs - then followed, helping him break into the Ashes squad as a reserve batsman.
And then came the moment. Of all people, Steve Smith had to be replaced due to concussion, and of all people, Marnus Labuschagne had to be the first concussion substitute in the game’s history - less than a fortnight after the rule came into existence. And when Archer’s snorting bouncer hit him on the helmet, he, too, could have easily suffered Smith’s fate. He could have been concussed or rattled. But no, he had to get up in less than a second and stare right back at Archer. The rest, as they say, is history.
Khawaja might be a lot of things - maybe even a scapegoat - but one thing he definitely is not, is destiny’s favourite child. Every time his career has threatened to take off, he’s been rammed into and run over by a truck of misfortune, putting him right back to where he started. Labuschagne, in stark contrast, has already catapulted to heights his good friend and teammate never did and, if his so-far-short career is anything to go by, seems to be fate’s best friend. After all, it’s fitting that Labuschagne ended up being the one who took Khawaja’s spot - first in the Test side, and now, in the ODIs. They are two children of destiny who have been dealt different cards.
