He feels like players are stabbing him in the back: Usman Khawaja defends Justin Langer

Things have been anything but smooth at Cricket Australia (CA) in recent times. There seems to be a lot of tension between head coach Justin Langer and a number of the players that he coaches. As per reports, the players have fallen out with the former Australian cricketer over his tough training regimes. CA will hold an emergency meeting with senior executives and players. They will try and find a solution at least until the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup and the Ashes. While it is being reported that Langer has lost most of the dressing room, Usman Khawaja is not one of those players. The opener said that Langer should be given more time and that he probably felt that the players had stabbed him in the back.

“How do you think JL feels? He probably feels like the guys in the team are stabbing him in the back and that’s what it looks like and that’s why it’s so disappointing,” Khawaja said on his YouTube channel. “It’s actually a really bad look. This is something the group needs to sort out ASAP. It’s not always the coaches. The guys aren’t performing, the players need to take ownership at some stage. It’s not one person so there needs to be some sort of perspective put around this,” he added.

KHAWAJA HAS LANGER’S BACK

Khawaja was seen falling out with Langer in the Amazon Prime documentary called ‘The Test’ that was about the Australian cricket team. However, he seems to be one of the very few people to have the coach’s back at the moment. Khawaja described Langer as a passionate person that loves Australian cricket. “He (Langer) is a very passionate person. Loves Australian cricket, wants the best for everyone, wants to only succeed. He’s driven by winning, driven by winning the right way and all the things he brought after sandpaper gate were focused on those things,” Khawaja continued.

The Aussie opener, however, did say that Langer’s emotions were sometimes a downside to him. He also mentioned that the former cricketer had said that he would work on that part of his character in public. “One thing that keeps coming up is his emotions. Yes, the man wears his heart on his sleeve. He can be very emotional. It’s probably his one downside, his greatest weakness is his emotion. He rides the highs and rides the lows but it’s only because he is passionate. Unfortunately, it’s probably the one thing that’s letting him down the most but it comes from a very good place. He knows it, he knows he needs to improve, he’s said it in the media, I’ve chatted to him,” Khawaja said.

Earlier, it seemed like an agreement had been reached between the players and Langer that he would see out his contract that expires next year. However, things have suddenly taken a turn for the worse. His tough training regimes have had a seriously negative impact in the dressing room. The Aussies were recently dealt a hefty 4-1 series defeat by Bangladesh, and that seems to have been the tipping point.