SYDNEY: Australia batsman Usman Khawaja has criticised the country’s selection policy and says the constant team changes hampered his attempts to develop his all-round game.

The 30-year-old left-han­der scored 55 runs in four innings during Australia’s 3-0 Test series defeat in Sri Lanka in 2016 before being dropped for the third Test.

He then scored half-centuries in six consecutive home Tests but did not play in the four-Test series in India this year. Khawaja was brought back for the first Test in Bang­­­ladesh, only to be dropped for the second match of the series.

“They never used to do it before, I’m not really sure why they do it now,” Khawaja told ABC Radio of the selection policy. “It creates a lot of instability in the team I reckon, going in and out for everyone.

“You hear things like ‘the players are playing afraid’ or whatnot, but that’s what happens when you drop players all the time. We’ve been doing that a fair bit lately.”

The Pakistan-born cricketer has played 24 Tests since making his debut in the 2011 Ashes series against England and has scored five hundreds, averaging over 45.

He is expected to earn a place in Australia’s top order in the Ashes series against England which starts next month.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2017