Australia vs South Africa: ​Ussie, Ussie, Ussie! Oi Oi Oi!

The circumstances that brought Usman Khawaja to the crease on day one of the Adelaide test against South Africa coudn't have been more awkward. With Australia already under a mountain of pressure following their worst start to a summer since 1978, the situation was further complicated after a cunning piece of off-field trickery by South African captain Faf Du Plessis, which forced Khawaja into the unfamiliar role of opening the batting.

What began in the most high pressure of circumstances was still going more than nine hours later as Khawaja batted his through the end of day one and all of day two on his way to a telling 145 run total. It would prove the decisive individual performance in Australia's attempt to salvage some cricketing dignity in Adelaide and he would receive man of the match honours for it.

The innings will be remembered for its grit and for the kind of concentration and discipline that Test cricket players have the mortgage on in world sport. In total he spent nine hours and 290 balls fending off red rocks hurled at up to 150km/h. He didn't have to look far for a reminder of what could happen if he missed. This Test signalled two years since former Australian test opener, Phil Hughes, was killed by a bouncer delivery while batting in a State match.

Khawaja was born in Islamabad, Pakistan, before emigrating to Australia with his parents as a child. He attended the famous sporting high school in the famously low-socioeconomic, multicultural west of Sydney, Westfields Sports High. The school is mind blowing in its record for producing Australian sporting talent; among the products former English Premier League star, Harry Kewell, Aussie cricket captain, Michael Clarke, rugby league star, Jarryd Hayne, rugby union star, Israel Folau, and many more.

Khawaja became the first Islamic cricket player to play for Australia when he was selected in the Ashes series of 2010/2011. By which time he was a fully qualified commercial and instrument pilot after completing a bachelor's degree in aviation at the University of New South Wales.

Khawaja, under instructions from his manager, refused interviews about his Islamic faith in the early part of his career, before eventually agreeing to a piece by The Australian Newspaper last year.

"It is just part of who I am. I have never hidden it and I have not made a big fuss about it," he said.

"I pray because it keeps me sane and grounded…I am not out there pretending to be the perfect Muslim. I do my best and I try to be grateful for the good things that come and take bad things in my stride," he said.

He probably wishes he kept his mouth shut after the comments below the article spilled into all manner of conservative toffs and self-appointed Islamic theology experts sharing their expertise on Islam because of some experience they had somewhere with somebody who was Islamic.

Poor form saw him dropped from the Australian Test team in 2013 but he has enjoyed a remarkable renaissance since. No one has scored more centuries in world cricket in the last 12 months than the man from Islamabad. Despite receiving the man of the match honours in Adelaide he was quick to deflect praise to the host of debutants that did the job for Australia following the desperate reshuffle. With Australia having lost the Test Series 2-1 to South Africa, Ussie will now confront his nation of birth, Pakistan, in the second series of the summer beginning on the 15th of December.