Khawaja’s run of form with the bat was a major reason behind Australia’s successful World Test Championship run, with the 37-year-old scoring a total of 1621 runs during the 2021-2023 cycle to be second behind England’s Joe Root for the most runs scored over the two-year period.

His resurgence back into Australia’s Test side also culminated in claiming the ICC Test Player of the Year award last year, and the veteran believes the honour bestowed upon him is as high as anything he has previously achieved in cricket.

“It has to be probably the greatest honour that I’ve received,” Khawaja said.

“It’s not just in Australia, it’s not domestic cricket, it’s worldwide. When you look at the list of cricketers who’ve won the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, (Kumar) Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting, Steve Smith, some of the greats of the game and it’s quite humbling to have won the same trophy.

“If you had told me any time in my career, particularly two years ago that I’d be winning ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, I would have laughed in your face. It’s something, I think it’s probably going to be one of the most cherishing awards that I have in my career.”