Like many World Cup tournaments, this T20 World Cup will also see some players with gloves on or bowling for their respective teams for the last time.
For Australia, the player is David Warner, who is set to retire from international cricket once Australia's campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup concludes.
But his ex-team-mate Usman Khawaja wants Warner to finish on a high and lift the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 trophy.
Speaking with news agency PTI ahead of Australia's last Super 8s match against India, Khwaja said, “As a friend, I'd love to see him (Warner) finish on a high. He's been playing some really good cricket. It's been really nice to see. You can tell he's just enjoying being out there. He's playing pretty relaxed. So he should. Yeah, it would be good to see."
Meanwhile, Khwaja, though upset with team's performace against Afghnaistan, is hopeful that Mitchell Marsh's team of winning the T20 World Cup for the second time since 2021.
"If Australia beats India and makes it to the semi-final, I think definitely, I think they can win. I think we've just got to get to the semi-final," Khawaja said.
He even spoke about Australia's ability to lift their game at the knock-out stages.
"I think we've shown over the years that we're a great knockout team. As soon as there's a knockout situation, more times than not we've won, but we've just got to get there." Khawaja said while praising Marsh.
"I think his captaincy is just him. It's him as a person. He doesn't try to be anything that he's not. He's relaxed. He goes out and plays the game, takes the game on, leads from the front, leads by his actions. So, I've really enjoyed watching his captaincy," he said.
Khwaja praised the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team and said that acknowledged that India will be tough to get past.
"I mean, India's always a threat. They have batters left, right and centre. They have great bowlers. They have excellent spinners. They have literally all bases covered. They always have. I wouldn't go out and say India's so far ahead, a better team than everyone else, because they're not.
"So I think on any day, any team can beat anyone, particularly in T20 cricket,” he observed.
India and Australia are set to face for their last Super 8 match at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet in St Lucia from 8 pm IST on 24 June.
With agency inputs.
