Usman Khawaja opens up on Justin Langer exit

Khawaja believes the biggest impact Langer had was restoring "humility" in the side. Despite leading Australia to their maiden T20 World Cup title and having a successful Ashes, Langer ended his four-year tenure as head coach of the Australia men's side, declining an offer from Cricket Australia for a six-month extension.

"One thing that I do love 'JL' (Langer) for, what I feel like he brought back was humility – I felt like he brought humility back into the Australian cricket team," he said. "It's all about legacy and for me that's one thing he left behind, because I know what we were playing like before he was coach, and I know what we were playing like after he was coach.

"I supported Langer the person. I felt like people were attacking himself, Justin Langer, and I felt that was a bit unfair; you've got to separate the coach from the person. And that's probably where I was coming from."

Stating that he was saddened by Langer's departure from the role, Khawaja also added that he wasn't fully aware of the circumstances that led to him resigning, amid criticism surrounding Test captain Pat Cummins for not publicly supporting Langer after his exit.

"I just came back in the team two months ago. I've been a little bit out of it, a little bit disconnected, but there's obviously a lot of ex-players coming and talking about the playing group," Khawaja said.

The Australian batter, who returned to the Test setup after almost two years during the Ashes, also lauded Langer for always looking to improve as a coach and said that he saw positive changes in the setup during Langer's tenure.

"JL [Langer] is one guy if you give him feedback, he normally pushes back to start but always takes it in at some stage," he said. "He was always trying to improve as a coach, as a person, and trying to do his best.

"I could see, definitely, improvements in places where he probably was a bit weaker with his coaching and it's like all of us, we're all trying to improve … and I could definitely see that the effort being put in. I still always got along with him."