Usman Khawaja is simply enjoying the Australian summer because of multiple reasons as he fully utilised his latest call-up to the national side with back-to-back hundreds in the fourth Ashes Test, played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
After scoring 137 in the first innings, he has now followed that with 101 in second innings to put Australia in a comfortable position to win the fourth Test. While doing It the Queenslander has achieved multiple records with his return to the international circuit after two long years.
Third batsman to score two centuries in both innings
After securing another hundred in the second innings of the Sydney Test, Khawaja became just the third batsman to notch two centuries at the SCG. Previously, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting and former Aussie batter Doug Walters achieved this rare feat.
The ninth batsman
Khawaja became the ninth batsman to score two hundreds in an Ashes Test.
The southpaw joins a pretty unique company of players to become the ninth player to score two hundreds in the same Ashes Test. He joins players like Steve Waugh, Matthew Hayden, Arthur Morris and current teammate Steve Smith.
First time in seven years a cricketer coming down to bat at number five has been able to score multiple tons in the same match.
The 35-year-old batter, has become only the 10th batsman to score multiple hundreds in a Test match batting at number five. It is also the first time in seven years that a batter has gone on to do that batting at this position. Ajinkya Rahane of India was the last batter to do so in 2015.
Khawaja’s is accompanied by Allan Border, Andy Flower, Inzamam-Ul-Haq and others in the elite list. It is also the third time this feat is achieved in Ashes. Denis Crompton of England in 1947 and Steve Waugh in 1997 for Australia scored multiple hundreds in the same Ashes match.
Indian batsmen with more centuries
Only Indian batters have scored more hundreds in World Test Championship (WTC).
Khawaja’s ton is Australia's 19th triple-figure mark in WTC, ever since its inception. Only India have scored more hundreds (20 centuries) during the WTC era. And looking at the current pace, the Aussies are well in the race to beat the Indians. England and Pakistan also have 17 hundreds to their name.
The Pakistan-born batter was only drafted into the team in place of Travis Head after he had symptoms of Covid-19. It is his third hundred against England at Sydney in just two matches, having previously scored one in January 2018.
He is also the second-highest scorer in the Sheffield Shield with 460 runs and only trails leader Tim Ward by seven runs. He also has two hundreds and two fifties under his belt in the domestic circuit.
