Veteran batter Usman Khawaja announces international retirement

SYDENY: Australia’s renowned Test cricketer Usman Khawaja has announced his retirement from international cricket.

He will bid farewell to Test cricket after the Pink Test played at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the Ashes series.

Khawaja, who made his first-class cricket debut at the Sydney Cricket Ground, will retire after playing his 88th Test match.

The 39-year-old Usman made his Test debut for Australia in 2011 and scored more than 6,000 runs in a 15-year-long career.

According to Cricket Australia, Usman Khawaja has also made significant contributions off the field and left a positive legacy through the Usman Khawaja Foundation.

He is Australia’s first Pakistani-born and first Muslim Test cricketer.

Usman Khawaja was awarded the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year and Shane Warne Test Cricketer of the Year in 2023 for his outstanding performance. He was also part of the Australian team that won the ICC Test Championship that year.

Usman Khawaja Media Talk

Speaking to the media after announcing his retirement, he said in an emotional manner that I am a Muslim boy from Pakistan who was told that he would never play for Australia… Look at me today.

Usman Khawaja said that his preparation for the Ashes series was questioned, and he was told that he was not serious about the team.

He was accused of playing golf the day before the Test match, avoiding training, and being selfish and lazy.

Usman Khawaja said that this is the same stereotype and racial thinking that he has faced all his life.

According to him, he had hoped that the media and former players would have moved beyond these perceptions by now, but the reality turned out to be the opposite.

He said that countless players played golf or drank alcohol the day before the match, suffered injuries, but they were never criticized.

Usman said that when he suffers an injury, he is immediately questioned, while sympathy is shown for other players.

He said that this is what has hurt him the most and with which he has been struggling for a long time. He said that he does not usually talk about this subject, but this time he felt that it was not right to remain silent.

Cricket Australia CEO

Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg praised Khawaja’s services and said that he played an important role in Australian cricket with his extraordinary performance.

He said that through the Usman Khawaja Foundation, he has established a positive identity and is considered one of Australia’s stylish and outstanding batsmen.

Todd Greenberg added that Cricket Australia is grateful to Usman Khawaja for his services and congratulates him on his brilliant career.

It should be noted that Usman Khawaja has played 87 Tests, 40 ODIs, and 9 T20 Internationals so far, while the final Test of the Ashes series will begin at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 4.