When then head selector John Inverarity in late 2012 said he wanted to see more "dynamism . . . energy and vitality" from Khawaja, in terms of his fielding and running between the wickets, the effects were significant.

The elegant left-hander had already had that feedback delivered privately but was unaware it would be made publicly too. It has dogged him since, the perception he doesn't care as much about his cricket as some of his more demonstrative peers do.

When it is almost two years since you have last played for Australia, and seven months since you have played competitively at any level, it is even harder to convince people you are not as apathetic as you are reputed to be.

Two people well aware of the difference between the perception of Khawaja and the reality are his parents, Tariq and Fauzia. In his early teens they repeatedly shelled out for replacement tennis racquets for the ones he smashed in anger at repeatedly losing to his brother, Arsalan.

Ironically, the end of their tether came with a racquet destroyed not in a tantrum but had instead tripped and fallen on to.

"I was like the boy who cried wolf. They wouldn't believe me!" Khawaja said, before turning to the repercussions of Inverarity's criticism after he had failed to consolidate his Test berth after his January 2011 debut.

"I think someone like 'Invers' had the best interests for me [as his priority] - I never doubted that - but I just think the way he told me was probably the wrong way," he said.

"If you ask anyone in the Queensland team they'll tell you I'm the most competitive out of anyone in the team, or in the top two, no matter whether we're playing table tennis or touch footy or anything."

"What's going on in my head and what I'm actually portraying are two different things . . . when I'm batting I'm trying to score as many runs as I can, and when I'm fielding I'm trying to take catches and get run-outs and trying to show energy."

"I obviously had some bad perceptions of me a few years ago. One of the reasons I moved to Queensland was for a fresh start, to do what I wanted to do. I think that helped a lot . . . to just mould my own image, to grow a little bit and to be a leader amongst the team. I think everyone

I've done since that time has worked out quite well. I think I'm a lot different now in a lot of aspects to what I was back then. That's all part of growing."

Queensland's stalwart wicketkeeper Chris Hartley was behind the stumps when Khawaja made his maiden first-class century in early 2009. He subscribed to the view that his opponent was "a bit cool" in the way he went about his cricket, but changed his tune when Khawaja joined the Bulls from NSW about three years ago.

"He knows how to keep himself measured and level. Sometimes that gets misconstrued," Hartley said. "You don't want to disregard comments from people in positions you should be listening to . . . but I think his demeanour has been misrepresented. He's just a measured and relaxed guy - but I can tell you underneath that exterior he's as switched on as anyone else on the field."

Since joining Queensland Khawaja has sought to address his reputation rather than whinge about the merits of it. Arguably his biggest strides have come in one-day cricket, a format he had been reputed to be ill-suited because he is not a huge hitter.

For fielding Khawaja has welcomed his deployment at point - "to make sure I'm in the game" - while in terms of running between wickets he has developed a peerless opening partnership, with Hartley. He said both prompted James Hopes, who has just relinquished the captaincy of the state, to commend him on "how much of a change he has seen since I first moved up here to Queensland, in terms of attitude on and off the field and everything else".

"I don't always show my emotions on the field so I can understand where people come. But I think the people that know me know how competitive I am . . . when I get out or things don't go my way I can get pretty grumpy at times. That's just my nature, it's who I am," Khawaja said.

"I've felt like I've always given 110 per cent. Maybe I needed a couple of people to say that to me, so it could sink in when I was a bit younger to see what was expected of me later in life."

Khawaja has averaged a commendable 46.62 since he last played the most recent of his nine Tests for Australia, during the 2013 Ashes series. His one-day record since his only three white-ball matches is superb: 949 runs at an average of 73 and a strike-rate of 92.86, including centuries in his past two Matador Cup matches.

Such results are why he was selected in both the four-day and one-day squads for Australia A's tour of India next month. Even more significant, in relation to both the vacancy as Queensland captain and Khawaja's international prospects, was the decision of national selectors to make him captain for the tour, ahead of Matthew Wade who led Victoria to the shield.

Hartley, another contender for the Bulls' captaincy, reckons Khawaja "would have to be looked at" in terms of choosing Chris Rogers' successor as Test opener, along with others such as Joe Burns, Cameron Bancroft and uncapped veteran Michael Klinger.

Khawaja is adamant he has "grown a lot" on and off the field since he joined Queensland and reckons he is still young enough - he turns 29 in December - to have "a lot of years playing my best cricket still [ahead]".

"I feel like I have a lot of unfinished business in international cricket, but by the same token I've got to keep my head down and got to do the right things or I may never get my chance again," he said. "I've learned from my mistakes in the past. You can't look too far ahead. I've got to make sure my knee's right, first and foremost, then go out and win games for whoever I'm playing for."