Legendary Australia batsman Mike Hussey has backed Usman Khawaja to repay selectors' faith "in spades" should they persist with the No.3 batsman for the second Test against Bangladesh.

Khawaja made one in each innings of the series opener in Dhaka, in the process adding to the theory that the left-hander struggles on spinning Asian pitches – he has now batted nine times on the continent for a highest score of 26 and an average of 14.62.

Hussey however, pointed to the extenuating circumstances for the batsman coming into the Bangladesh series, namely his lack of cricket in the immediate build-up due to inclement Dhaka weather, which compounded his general shortage of time at the crease in 2017.

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"You shouldn't be judging someone on a couple of innings, and in one of those innings he was run-out," Hussey told cricket.com.au's The Unplayable Podcast.

"He hasn't played any cricket for so long, so it's going to take time for him to get back in and get up to speed with that match hardness. Even in the IPL he just sat on the bench the whole time, so it's difficult and it's going to take a little bit of time."

Hussey, whose average of 63.05 is the highest of any Australian to have batted at least 10 times in Asia, stressed the importance of patience from the selectors, citing off-spinner Nathan Lyon as an example of someone who has benefited from persistence.

"I know there's going to be the doubters out there but (Khawaja is) a quality player," Hussey said. "He's class, and if you show the faith, show that you believe in him, you'll get the best out of him.

"If you start chopping and changing, and sending those messages that you're not backing him, then you're going to get these inconsistent performances.

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"And it's shown with someone like Nathan Lyon – he throughout his career has had a lot of doubters, but the selectors have shown faith in him over a period of time and believed in him, and look at him now; he's repaid that in spades.

"I think Usman Khawaja is in the same boat: we know he's a good player, we know he's got class, (so) just show that believe and faith in him and he will repay it in spades, I promise you."

Australia's preparation was hindered when the two-day warm-up match scheduled in Dhaka was washed out, costing the tourists their one shot at growing accustomed to home conditions.

Hussey was renowned for his meticulous training in his playing days and suggested that ideally the Australians would have liked more than one match to acclimatise, however the issue of security in Bangladesh was another preventative factor.

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"I know there was a short camp in Darwin, which would have been good to get the guys going, but Darwin conditions aren't the same as what they were playing on in Bangladesh," he said. "Unfortunately the warm-up game was washed out, so they didn't get any match-time practice leading into that first Test.

"I've always been a big believer of getting into the home conditions as early as you possibly can – even just one warm-up game, I'm not sure that would've been enough preparation in those local conditions to make sure you're ready to go."

With Australia now in a do-or-die situation for the final Test, the former Test batsman said they had to refocus and heed the lessons learned from the Dhaka defeat.

"They have to stay positive; there's no point kicking cans and getting into a negative frame of mind," he added.

"They have to try to take whatever learnings they got out of the match, individually and collectively, and really apply that to their preparation.

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"They'll be better prepared now, they'll know what to expect, and hopefully they can crystallise their plans individually against different bowlers in the Bangladesh attack.

"Maybe coming into the first Test, perhaps some of the guys weren't 100 per cent sure about how exactly they wanted to play and how they could have success in those conditions against those bowlers.

"Hopefully now they've taken a lot of learnings from that first Test, and are clearer and more confident about how they want to go about it.

"Watching the way Warner went about it, I'm sure they can pick little bits of his game (to learn from). It's all about adapting as quickly as you can."

Australia in Bangladesh 2017

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Steve O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade.

Bangladesh squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (c), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mominul Haque.

27-31 August First Test, Dhaka, Bangladesh won by 20 runs

4-8 September Second Test, Chittagong