'Sign of respect...,' says Usman Khawaja on Indians wanting to beat Australia

Australia Test opener Usman Khawaja says that it is a 'sign of respect' that Indians want to beat Australia in any form of cricket. The comments come ahead of the upcoming five-Test Border-Gavaskar series scheduled to be played Down Under from November 22.

"I take it as a sign of respect and I know it that Indians love beating Australia in any sort of form of cricket. And the tradition that Australia has had over so many years as being one of the dominating teams in world cricket has staked that reputation," said Khawaja while speaking on Star Sports as reported by news agency PTI.

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Khawaja also explained the reason for the intense rivalry between the two sides and said: "We're world number one, world number two teams really over the last two years. We were there at the last World Test Championship together. The rivalry has always been huge."

The Aussie opener also cited the rise of Indian Premier League (IPL) and India beating Australia in last two Test series Down Under.

"For Indians, it's always been the case to beat Australia. And more recently, you know, since the rise of India and IPL and everything else that happened, it's the same way with Australia against India," Khawaja said.

"And particularly since India's beaten Australia in Australia the last two times they've come out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It just means a little bit more,” he added.

India have three Test series planned from September 19 - two at home and one away. They first play Bangladesh for two-Test series from September 19 before hosting New Zealand for a three-Test series.

India then travel to Australia for a five-Test Border-Gavaskar series with an aim to win their third consecutive Test series Down Under.