AHMEDABAD: Usman Khawaja began his morning by shaking the hands of India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. At the end of the day's play, Australia's Cameron Green shook Khawaja's hands as the southpaw notched a sixth Test century since the beginning of 2022, once again redlining his new-found status as one of the best batters in the sport's longest format. It's certainly not been an easy journey to the top for the Pakistan-born 36-year-old.
But it's been a reward for the hard work he has put in. This second wind of his is all the more remarkable when you consider the outside noise he had to deal with was so visceral he thought he had no ability to play spin. In this series, which has included treacherous surfaces like the one in Indore, not many batters have looked as assured as Khawaja. He was coming into the Test on the back of two half-centuries in the first three games so he had already spent some time in the middle.
So, on a very good innings-building surface if you were up for the grind, he was never going to miss out. If the common themes on all three previous first days were ball beating bat, finding both edges or hitting the pads, the one reassuring sound in Ahmedabad was the ball finding the middle of Khawaja's blade for the majority of the day.
On good batting days in Asia, batters may try to push the needle a little bit in terms of run-scoring. Because the pitch might deteriorate under the sun and wickets can fall in a heap, achieving that balance between defending and run-scoring can be a bit tricky. Khawaja found it even as the other batters perished in what can be termed as classical day-one wicket on a good batting track in Indian conditions. Travis Head got the visitors off to a quick start before gifting a catch to mid-on while trying to go over his head. Both Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith chopped on when looking set for lots. Peter Handscomb lost his off stump thanks to Mohammed Shami finding some late movement with the old ball.
Speaking of Shami, he was the pick of the Indian bowlers who kept the hosts in the game after a strangely off-colour opening spell saw both bowlers err in line as well as length. It allowed the visitors to race to 56 for none in the first hour.
After the first 60 minutes though, they put the skids on the scoring. By the time lunch was called, they had dismissed Labuschagne also. It's why this all-terrain bowling attack has been highly complimented in recent years. Even if the pitch is unresponsive, they smuggle wickets by sticking to a stump-to-stump line and dry up the runs.
Unfortunately for India, Khawaja didn't mind the chess game that was unfolding. While Labuschagne's lazy waft outside the off stump with minimalistic foot movement was suggestive of a batter who was looking for cheap runs on a good strip, Khawaja was prepared for the long grind to gain maximum benefit. "I don't think I have smiled so much when getting a century before," he said after the day's play, still smiling like a kid in a candy store. "(I) felt could just bat normally, that's why I didn't take too many risks. Just keep grinding away.
"Stick to my process. What the bowlers are doing, how I think 'they are trying to get me out'. Where can I score my runs? All these things going through my head... not like I'm just batting out there, I'm not. There's always stuff happening, changing my guard. Come forward, go back. it's always chess out there which you don't see from the outside unless you are an experienced cricket watcher or a cricketer back in the day."
Part of the chess game India was playing involved bringing mid-on and mid-off up to Khawaja and asking him to clear it, like what they did with Head. On other days, Khawaja will have accepted the bait. Thursday wasn't one of those days. "Had to put my ego away, a few times they brought up mid-off and mid-on up," he explained. "I really wanted to hit them over the top which is what I would normally do but I thought 'I will just keep grinding away'."
He has been doing an awful lot of that in recent times. Tied for most 100s (six), most number of runs scored (1532), most balls faced (3019) and most fours (166)... it's all suggestive of a batter enjoying his vocation.
What will give him joy is that he has generated a big chunk of these numbers in Pakistan and India, two places he was told he wasn't fit to play in. "Throughout the middle of my career, I got told I couldn't play spin. That's why I never got the opportunity to play against India. It was nice to go out there and tick off a 100 in India. If you had asked me five years ago, I would have said 'are you crazy? So, yeah, lots of emotion. Never expected this to happen.
"People started saying that (not able to play spin) and perception is reality. Any time I got out to spin, people were like 'he can't play spin'. I probably started believing it myself and didn't get the support from people around me at the time. Didn't feel like the team, coaches and the support staff really supported me during that journey..."
As Green congratulated Khawaja after the latter jumped in delight, one couldn't help but stand up and give him an imaginary handshake. It was a constant reminder that what makes the journey worth it is the destination.