Former Australian opener and coach Justin Langer gace a bizarre theory while trying to explain what led to Usman Khawaja getting out for a duck in the first innings of the ICC World Test Championship final against India at the Oval in London on Wednesday (June 7). Khawaja was in the commentary box and on air when he made a rather unusual explaination of the left-handed Khawaja's dismissal. He reckoned that it was the batter's long-sleeved sweater that might have been the cause of the batter's dismissal.
"He came out wearing a long-sleeve sweater. I felt if I had a long-sleeve sweater, especially early, you need to be sharp – I never felt right. And he came out wearing that long-sleeved sweater today and didn’t get going. He will be disappointed to be out in the first half an hour," Langer said.
During the fourth over of Australia's batting, Usman Khawaja experienced a disappointing dismissal by getting out without a run against his name. In an attempt to respond to a delivery bowled across him by Mohammed Siraj, Khawaja extended his bat, leading to an edge that was caught by the fielding side. This marked the seventh time he had scored in single digits out of his thirteen Test innings played in England.
However, despite losing Khawaja early on in their innings, the Kangaroos ensured that they post a formidable first innings score of 469, thanks to centuries from Travis Head and Steve Smith. In response, India were off to brisk start but they joy short lived with Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli all getting out in quick succession. Thanks to a partnership between Ajinkya Rahane and Jadeja (48), India got a bit of a move on before Jadeja was removed by Jadeja. India ended Day 2 at 151/5 with Rahane and KS Bharat out in the middle.
On Day 3, even though Bharat got out in the first over itself, Rahane has continued his good form and completed a fine half-century on comeback. However, India still continue to trail Australia's first innings total by over 200 runs.