There was a 57 at the MCG, and a 41 in the New Year Test, but otherwise it had been a dry few months for Usman Khawaja. He'd not only averaged just 20.44 across 10 innings in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, he'd only crossed fifty twice in Tests in 2024.
But he'd had a message from coach Andrew McDonald: 'Get on the Sri Lanka tour'. Now, Khawaja has struck 147 not out on the first day of that series, top-scoring for Australia as they strode to 330 for 2 on a rain-curtailed day one. This was also Khawaja's first Test century since mid 2023, and the 16th of his Test career.
"It's been a tough summer - I had a lot of people telling me how I should go about my career and what I should do from here on in," said Khawaja, who turned 38 in December. "But Andrew McDonald, even last year, said to me: 'I don't care what happens, just make sure you're on the Sri Lankan tour. I want you on the Sri Lankan tour.'
"I'm not here for anyone but the team. I'm not just playing cricket because I've got a gluttony to score lots of runs. Century No. 16, 17, 18 is not going to make a difference to my life. I'm going to finish this game, and I've got a beautiful family. I'll try to give back to the community as much as I can. Hopefully I can score runs and contribute to the team."
Of those 16 hundreds, five have now come in Asia. Once a nervous batter against spin, Khawaja dwelt a little on how changes to his game have allowed him to succeed on the continent, in recent years. He is now only the second Australia batter, after Alan Border, to have hit centuries in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (Matthew Hayden had also hit 'away' centuries against these teams, but the one against Pakistan had been in Sharjah). Khawaja said the Dubai Test of 2018, when he hit 85 and 141 against Pakistan, was his turning point for playing spin in Asia.
"It's a contrast of two halves - my career in the subcontinent," Khawaja said. "There's pre-Dubai, post-Dubai. There were some low times - my wife Rachel was here with me [in 2016, when he'd been dropped mid-series in Sri Lanka], and we had so many of those tough times. No one ever sees that. Everyone sees the good stuff."
Khawaja wasn't the only Australia batter to get to triple figures on Wednesday. Steven Smith scored his 35th Test hundred as well.
"But you have to take the good stuff when you get it. It doesn't come around very much. We had one of the greatest players to play the game - Steven Smith - get to, what was that, 35 Test hundreds? As great as he is, he's only done it 35 times. That puts things into perspective."