AUSTRALIA'S latest cricket star Usman Khawaja was yesterday morning sitting in his bedroom strangling a guitar, with Wolfmother's Joker and the Thief banging out of the amplifier.
He's a Canberra Raiders fan. Raised in Centennial Park. He hardly fits the profile of the first Australian of Muslim faith to don the baggy green.
But that is what he will become on Monday when the fifth Test starts at the SCG. Pakistani born. A proud product of an immigrant family.
So how does a 24-year-old rising star react when he's just been given the biggest promotion of his young career?
"I played the guitar and I played PlayStation," Khawaja said during a press conference at the SCG last night.
"I sort of got the news that I was in the Test squad this morning and I didn't really do anything different.
Khawaja, once the teenager you could catch every New Year's Test peering through the bars at the SCG to try to catch some of the action, is bound to have the same following when the Test starts.
His family was too poor to afford tickets to a lot of games in his younger days, but he now has a stack of passes to hand out to the exclusive guests-of-players area - and they will go like hotcakes.
"My Dad's a man of few emotions, so he shouted as much as he could," Khawaja said. "He was in the next room and I went and told him and everyone else will know by now.
"It's a childhood dream for me. Ever since I can remember I've wanted to play for Australia.
"I'm jumping out of my boots. It's all I can think about. My mind is sort of in 40 different places.
Khawaja's most recent crack at the English attack will also not help his nerves. He scored 13 and 0 for Australia A against England in Hobart in November.
"He [Ponting] is a legendary cricketer and a legendary bloke," Khawaja said.
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