EXCLUSIVE: Usman Khawaja claims David Warner was 'fishing' in floating retirement backflip

As commentators and former players lined up to have a crack at David Warner after he offered last month to come out of Test retirement to face India, Usman Khawaja spared his two cents.

Asked about Warner's invitation three weeks on, a laughing Khawaja has put it down to his great mate and former opening partner "throwing the fishing line out there".

Khawaja now knows who he'll be opening the batting with against India in Perth after Nathan McSweeney was named in a 13-man Australian Test squad on Sunday, having beaten Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Sam Konstas for the vacant role.

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In an interview with Wide World of Sports prior to the announcement of the Test squad, a big grin appeared on Khawaja's face when the topic of Warner's proposed retirement backflip came up.

"Ah, big Davey's hilarious," Khawaja laughed.

"He's just throwing the fishing line out there, as he does. He knows how to create drama.

"There's no doubt he could probably still do it, but he's gone, he had a great end last year, a great retirement.

"I love Davey ... He's still rocking the boat. That's Davey, that's why I love him. He loves stirring people up."

Among the ex-players who took aim at Warner was former Test opener Greg Blewett, who said on Triple M radio he'd "never heard so much garbage in my life", branded him "self-absorbed" and declared he'd been playing "some bloody average cricket".

Warner retired with the impressive numbers of 8786 runs at an average of 44.59 from 112 Tests, but the left-hander made just 1698 runs at 33.96 across the final four years of his Test career.

He was revealed last week as the Sydney Thunder's BBL captain for the summer ahead — an announcement that followed Cricket Australia's lifting of his lifetime leadership ban six years on from the Newlands ball-tampering scandal.

"If there was an SOS I'm sure Davey would be like, 'All right, if you guys really need me...'," Khawaja added.

"I think it was a bit of tongue-in-cheek [talk].

"I think he's quite happy playing his T20 stuff and spending time with family, and he's in a good space."

India is teetering toward the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series on the back of a 3-0 Test series defeat to New Zealand on Indian soil — the cricket-mad country's first Test series whitewash at home in 24 years.

But Khawaja said he was nonetheless wary of the Rohit Sharma-skippered side ahead of the five-match series, beginning in Perth on November 22.

"They're a very good side. I still look at their team and think, 'They've got terrific batsmen, they've got terrific bowlers, they've got great spinners'. They're a complete team, much like we are," Khawaja said.

"Yeah, they might have lost three games, but different conditions, they're going to come out here, they're going to be hungry, it's Test cricket. Honestly, I think it's always going to be a tough series. They're always our toughest series.

"... Beware of the wounded dog."

Khawaja has had a career renaissance in recent years, taking his place among the top batters in the world after being recalled to the Australian Test team in 2022.

He credits part of his resurgence to his life off the field and told Wide World of Sports he placed a huge priority on sleep, aiming for eight to 10 hours per night.

He's guided by Samsung Health and Galaxy AI, for whom he is an ambassador.

"There's no better recovery than food, water and sleep," Khawaja said.

"I don't care what anyone says. They can do ice baths, they can do whatever they want. You need some sleep. People always ask me, 'How are you still playing when you're 37, 38 years old?'. I say, 'Sleep. Get some good sleep, you'll recover'."