Khawaja slims down ahead of Langer's first Test as coach
The Aussies will face Pakistan in two Test matches in October – Justin Langer's first as head coach – accompanied by one T20I and three ODIs.
Khawaja joins Mitchell Marsh as the only senior players also picked in the Australia A squad for two four-day games against India in September, and having honed his fitness the 31-year-old will be keen to secure his position in the Test side having lost his ODI place for the recent series against England.
"I've dropped seven kilos since South Africa – I'm down to 77kg," Khawaja told cricket.com.au. "I got just about 7:30 in my 2km time trial, which is a personal best. I did jump testing the other day and I jumped higher than I have before. So all the markers have been better than I've had for at least the last five years.”
Khawaja was openly upset about his omission from Australia's one-day team upon Langer's arrival at the helm, but was realistic in his assessment of the situation after an international career that has so far yielded 33 Test caps since his debut in 2011 and 18 ODI appearances.
"We (Langer and I) had long conversations," said Khawaja. "He knew I was disappointed. We had some really good chats. I know the expectations, and I know where I stand. I'm not going into any game thinking 'I have to score runs' – I want to score runs in any game I play.
"For me, the main thing is I'm still enjoying it. That's been my mindset the last five, six years. JL (Langer) is my fifth coach of Australia now. I've been through it all, I've seen a lot of different coaches, and I've been in and out of the team a lot – especially in my younger years. I've learnt to just realise there are some things you can't control."
Khawaja's physical improvements have coincided with some excellent club form this year, having notched three consecutive centuries at the start of the English County Championship season for Glamorgan, but he is not attributing all his recent success to his new gym schedule.
"I've got to be honest, I really don't think they're linked," he said. "I'd love to say they are – that I scored three hundreds because I'm fitter or I'm doing all this stuff, but cricket's a skills game.
"But you do have to enjoy what you're doing. I remember working my arse off before the 2013 Ashes and I went there and only scored one fifty and didn't play well, and got dropped.
"But I probably wasn't in a good space (mentally); if you're doing fitness work, you're starving yourself and you're in a bad headspace, then I don't reckon you're going to score runs – no matter how [physically] fit you get."
Khawaja says his full recovery from a knee reconstruction has been the catalyst for his better form and increased motivation, and having fitted a home gym, lone training sessions have helped him fine-tune his fitness for Australia's tour of the UAE and Australia A's forthcoming series against India A, which could serve as a trial for a place in the Test side.
"I did it all on my own pretty much," he said. "I had a month-and-a-half on my own (after South Africa) just doing fitness stuff, going to the gym. I had a space downstairs where I've set up my own gym now. I invested some money in that and it's great. I can just walk downstairs now, do what I want to do.
"I wanted to get fitter, lose a bit of weight and keep my strength," he added. "I'd found it a bit difficult in the past few years, especially after coming back from my [knee reconstruction], to get in the work.
"It's always hard coming back from a major injury and it's only the last 12 months I've felt in a good place again, ready to go a bit harder."