Usman Khawaja - Records Longest Test Innings By An Australian In India

In the last game of the four-match Test series between the hosts India and the visitors Australia at Ahmedabad, the opener Usman Khawaja’s marathon innings helped the Aussies to set a big first innings total. The left-handed batter now holds the record for the longest Test innings (by balls faced) by an Australian batter in India.

Trailing by 2-1 in this series, Aussie stand-in Test captain Steven Smith chose to bat first on the opening day morning of the series-decider Ahmedabad Test.

With the massive help of Usman Khawaja’s 10-hour-long batting of 180 runs in 422 balls (21 fours) and Cameron Green’s 114 of 170 balls (18 fours) and some other supporting contributions from top and lower orders, the visitors scored 480 runs in the first innings.

Here we are going through some crucial stats of Khawaja’s incredible batting performance.

Article Contents:

Usman Khawaja’s batting

• Faced 422 balls

>> Longest Test innings by an Australian batter in India

>> Special performance from an opener

>> Other special records in India

• Scored 180 runs

>> An unforgettable visiting Australian

>> A top-class Australian left-hander

>> Brilliant Aussie opener

• Batted for 611 minutes

>> Batting for 10 hours in India

>> Exceptional 10-hour batting record as an Australian

2023 Ahmedabad Test (1st innings): Usman Khawaja faced 422 balls

(Longest Test innings by an Australian batter in India)

• Longest Test innings (by balls faced) by an Australian batter in India. The previous record was 392 balls by Graham Yallop (167 runs) at Kolkata in 1979.

(Special performance from an opener)

• Second longest Test innings (by balls faced) by an opener in an India vs Australia Test match. Former Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri is the record holder in this list, as the opener faced 477 balls (206 runs) during the 1992 Sydney Test.

• Second longest Test innings (by balls faced) by an away opener in India. Former South African cricketer Andrew Hall is the record holder, who faced 454 balls (163 runs) during the 2004 Kanpur Test.

• Fourth longest Test innings (by balls faced) by an opener in India.   

Openers faced at least 400 balls in a Test innings in India

(Other special records in India)

• Second longest Test innings (by balls faced) by a left-handed batter in India. Former Zimbabwe left-handed batter Andy Flower is the record holder in this list by facing 444 balls (232* runs) against India during the 2000 Nagpur Test. 

• Sixth longest Test innings (by balls faced) by an away cricketer in India. 

• 11th longest Test innings (by balls faced) by a batter in India.

2023 Ahmedabad Test (1st innings): Usman Khawaja scored 180 runs

(An unforgettable visiting Australian)

• It was the third-highest individual score in a Test innings by an Australian cricketer in India.

Top five highest individual scores in a Test innings by the Australians in India

(A top-class Australian left-hander)

• It was the joint third-highest individual score in a Test innings by an Australian left-handed batter against India.  

Top five highest individual scores in a Test innings by the Australian left-handed batters vs India

(Brilliant Aussie opener)

• It was the joint second-highest individual score in a Test innings by an Australian opener against India.  

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Top five highest individual scores in a Test innings by the Australian openers vs India

2023 Ahmedabad Test (1st innings): Usman Khawaja batted for 611 minutes

(Batting for 10 hours in India)

• Third longest batting in a Test innings (by minutes) by a visiting cricketer in India.

Visiting cricketers batted at least 600 minutes in a Test innings in India

• Ninth longest batting in a Test innings (by minutes) by a cricketer in India.

(Exceptional 10-hour batting record as an Australian)

• Third longest batting in a Test innings (by minutes) by an Australian cricketer outside the home.

Touring Australian cricketers batted at least 600 minutes in a Test innings

• Fifth longest batting in a Test innings (by minutes) by an Australian opener.

Australian openers batted at least 600 minutes in a Test innings

(Data Source: ESPNcricinfo; Updated till 10 March 2023)

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