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Usman Khawaja eyes swift Test recall for Australia

Having been dropped in Sri Lanka, Australia batsman Usman Khawaja is focused on scoring heavily to ensure he features in the first Test against South Africa

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Usman Khawaja is determined to stay upbeat as he seeks to immediately regain his place in Australia's Test team.

Despite scoring four hundreds in six Tests during the last Australian summer, Khawaja was axed for his country's final Test in Sri Lanka - having made 55 runs in four innings with a top score of 26.

The elegant left-hander has also been overlooked for the upcoming one-day internationals in South Africa, but remains hopeful of being involved when the Proteas arrive in Perth for the first Test of three in November.

"It's about going back to the Matador Cup [and] doing well for Queensland. Hopefully we can win a trophy and then I can be there for that first Test in Perth," said Khawaja.

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"It was tough to not play that last Test match, it's never easy being dropped regardless of the circumstances.

"It didn't seem like it was the end of the world. I can understand where [the selectors] were coming from, even though it was disappointing and I didn't fully agree with it.

"At the end of the day it's out of your hands. You've just got to roll with the punches and hopefully when you get another chance you score runs."

Having struggled badly against slow bowling en route to a 3-0 defeat in their Sri Lanka Tests, Australia are set to face another trial by spin when they head to India next year.

"We learned a lot from it, the more we play in those conditions, the better we'll get," added Khawaja.

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"It's not natural for us Australians but as long as we're improving and not making the same mistake that's all we can ask.

"There's no point looking at India if I don't score any runs this summer.

"We need to win at home first and we're playing against two quality attacks [South Africa and Pakistan]."

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