Australia’s Usman Khawaja comes out batting for David Warner saying he is ‘paid his dues’

Usman Khawaja has leapt to the defence of fellow Australian batsman David Warner, saying he has “paid his dues” over the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.

Warner got here underneath fireplace from former Aussie quick bowler Mitchell Johnson after being named in Australia’s 14-man squad for the three-match residence Take a look at sequence towards Pakistan.

The primary recreation begins in Perth on Thursday, December 14.

And 37-year-old opener Warner has spoken of his dream of bowing out of his Take a look at profession within the remaining recreation at Sydney Cricket Floor, his residence stadium, in January.

However, writing in a newspaper column on Sunday, Johnson mentioned Warner didn’t benefit his place within the facet on kind and shouldn’t be given a hero’s send-off due to the ball-tampering scandal.

Warner and former captain Steve Smith have been handed 12-month bans after the ‘sandpaper-gate’ controversy through the third Take a look at towards South Africa in Cape City in March 2018.

Johnson, who took 313 Take a look at wickets in an eight-year profession that resulted in 2015, mentioned of his former teammate: “As we put together for David Warner’s farewell sequence, can someone please inform me why?

“Why a struggling Take a look at opener will get to appoint his personal retirement date. And why a participant on the centre of one of many greatest scandals in Australian cricket historical past warrants a hero’s send-off?

“It has been 5 years and David Warner has nonetheless by no means actually owned the ball-tampering scandal.”

However present teammate Khawaja hit again on the feedback yesterday, saying: “Warner and Smith are heroes in my thoughts.

“They missed a yr of cricket by way of darkish occasions. Nobody’s excellent. Mitchell Johnson’s not excellent.

“What they’ve executed for the sport – how they’ve grown the sport – far outweighs the rest they’ve executed.

“To say Dave Warner or anybody else concerned in ‘sandpaper-gate’ will not be a hero … I strongly disagree as a result of they’ve paid their dues. A yr out of cricket is a very long time.”

Up to date: December 04, 2023, 11:27 AM