NEW DELHI: Australian opener Usman Khawaja has advised the national selectors to consider class rather than form when selecting his next opening partner, following David Warner's departure from the longest format the following month.
The last match of the three-match series, which begins on January 3, will feature Warner playing his final Test against Pakistan at his home ground of Sydney.
Khawaja encouraged the selectors to choose a player who can thrive and succeed on the international stage, but he isn't overly concerned about his next partner.
"To be honest, it (who my next opening partner is) doesn't really matter to me, genuinely. Whoever the selectors are going to pick, they're going to pick because they think they're the best for the role," Khawaja told on SEN Radio.
"I don't even believe in the 'bat-off' people are talking about right now. I think it is going to come to a lot more than that. You can't pick teams on form. You've got to pick teams on who you think the best player is.
"If we pick teams on form, the Australian team would be changing every second week, so you just can't do that.
"Class is always permanent. Form is always temporary. It will be interesting to see which way they go. I actually don't know," he added.
Khawaja stated that the number of runs he had scored in first-class cricket should not be taken into consideration when choosing his next opening partner.
"I think it (making runs) does (play into it)," he said.
"But I think if you go a bit further back for the last five years, all of the guys that are in contention would have scored a truckload of runs.
"It would be very similar. It just depends on how big a sample size you want to make it."
(With PTI inputs)
