Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has been named to open the national team's batting order in the first Test match in Pakistan.
It will be a special homecoming for Khawaja, who was born in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, and migrated to Australia with his family when he was five years old.
But Khawaja said the sentiment of the game will not cloud his performance, despite the connection he has to the country he was born in.
"The fact I'm playing in Pakistan is special, don't get me wrong, it's very special, and something I've always wanted to do," Khawaja told reporters on Monday.
"It's something I've always wanted to do. I grew up down the road.
"There's a bit of sentiment there, but once the game starts you don't really think about that stuff, you're more worried about the ball coming down."
On Thursday night, Khawaja shared a photo of himself as a young boy practising wickets at Rawalpindi Stadium - the very same place he is preparing to bat for the Australian side this weekend.
"Who would have thought that I'd be back here for the green and gold. Can't wait to get back out there!" he wrote in an Instagram post.
Before this year, Khawaja hadn't been selected to represent Australia since 2019, with many fearing his career in the baggy green was over.
But after Travis Head caught COVID-19 during the 2021-22 Ashes series, Khawaja received a special call-up and redeemed himself with two back-to-back centuries in the fourth Test match.
Now 35, he will be batting alongside long-time friend David Warner for a second time on the pitch, after they joined forces at the Ashes fifth test match in Hobart earlier this year.
Australian captain Pat Cummins said it was a special time for the national team to travel to Pakistan.
It's the first time it has been done since 1998, when cricket legends Mark Taylor and Michael Slater represented the country.
"It’s been quite moving for us to be alongside [Khawaja] on his return to his country of birth and it clearly means the world to him to think we might inspire a new generation of Pakistani cricketers over the coming weeks," Cummins wrote in an op-ed for Code Sports on Friday.
"[Usman] will no doubt be a fan favourite here, as he should be, but this will also be the first opportunity Pakistani fans have had to see greats of the Australian game like Dave Warner or [Steve Smith] in person."
While Khawaja himself expects to receive a warm welcome in Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore, he hopes Pakistan will show its appreciation for the cricket of the visitors.
That doesn't mean Pakistani fans will want Australia to win, though.
"I've got a lot of support here in Pakistan always. I think they'll support me, they'll hope I get runs, but they’ll be hoping Australia get smashed at the same time," he said with a smile on Monday.
"It's going to be one of those Catch-22s.
"But I don’t expect a hostile crowd. Pakistanis love their cricket, and they appreciate good cricket, and I think that’s what they’d be hoping for."
Australia players will wear black armbands in memory of former wicketkeeper on Friday.
With Reuters.
