Usman Khawaja shuts down criticism on 'one of the greats' David Warner ahead of 4th Ashes 2023 Test

The veteran Australian opener David Warner is currently struggling with a poor run of form with the bat in the ongoing Ashes 2023 against England. He has scored only 141 runs in six innings of the three Tests played so far in the Ashes 2023. In these matches, Warner has a poor average of 23.5 including one half-century in the first innings of the second Test at the Lord’s.

Meanwhile, his opening partner and the veteran Aussie opener Usman Khawaja has come up with a strong defence for David Warner amidst the latter’s lean patch with the bat. Khawaja backed Warner to play some big knocks soon. He also assured him to always have the back of his old friend no matter what others say.

"From my point of view, Dave Warner has been one of the greatest openers of all time. It is him and ‘Haydos’ right up there for Australia I reckon, the top two ever, so I will always back Davey no matter what, and I think the other guys will, too,” said Khawaja to Sydney Morning Herald.

Here's what Usman Khawja said further on the opening role for him and David Warner

Later on, Khawaja also spoke about the role of opening the innings for the team. He named it a ‘thankless job’ and also recalled his opening stand with David Warner in the second Test of Ashes 2023 at the Lord’s in London.

"It’s massive. It is a thankless job. We got a really good start at Lord’s in heavy overhead conditions. I got out last over before lunch, but that sets up the game for us. Steve Smith came out and batted in the sunshine and made a beautiful hundred. I think as an opener sometimes you don’t always record your good days on how many runs you made,” said Khawaja.

“Sometimes it’s just about grinding through those tough times, which we did in that Test match. We’ve had three 50-run partnerships against Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad. That is as tough as it gets in England. You have to pay some respect to that,” he added later.