BRISBANE: Legendary Australian batter Allan Border on Sunday, advised left-handed opener Usman Khawaja to make ‘hard yards’ to reclaim his lost form.
Khawaja, turning 38 next week, is going through a rough patch as the opening batter only managed to score one half-century in his previous 21 Test innings.
The experienced batter’s poor form continued in the ongoing five-match Test series against India, with his latest failure being a 21-run knock in the first innings of the third fixture.
Reacting to Khawaja’s struggles with the bat, Border highlighted the latter’s age as they key factor behind the dip in form.
“Naturally your body slows down,” Border said.
“Even while I was batting (in my late thirties), I’d think, ‘Gee I’d normally cut that’. But I’d let it go.
“It would take a lot longer (to score runs) than it did when I was 28, just through the foot movement and reaction time, to pick the ball up and play the right shot.
“As I got older, you’re that yard behind. Even cover drives would squirt through for one rather than a four.
“It’s just those reaction times.”
Allan Border then went on to advise Khawaja to train harder in order to retain his place in the team.
“He’s got to really do those hard yards. If that (motivation) drops off, you’ll almost guarantee that your game will drop off.
“He’s naturally a very good player … he’s put a lot of work in, don’t get me wrong, but (he needs to) keep maintaining that, and more.
“He’s got a young family now, those things then start taking priority away from the game. Maybe you start cutting corners with training, and that’s when you can drop off a little bit. That’s when people start saying, ‘Oh he’s 38, maybe it’s time to move on.’
- Allan Border
