- Khawaja will retire after the fifth Ashes Test.
- He hopes to inspire young people who are “different.”
- The batsman is affected by media treatment after a recent injury.
Star Australian batsman Usman Khawaja said on Friday he hoped his long Test career, which will come to an end with his retirement after the fifth Ashes clash, will inspire youngsters who are “different” that playing cricket for Australia is possible.
The top-order batsman, who turned 39 last month, announced on Friday that he would retire from international cricket after his 88th Test, which begins at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.
Khawaja made his Test debut at the same ground in the final match of the 2010-11 Ashes series and has since scored 6,206 runs at an average of 43.39, including 16 centuries.
More than his careers, however, Khawaja was a standard-bearer for diversity in Australian cricket, having been born in Pakistan before being raised in Sydney from the age of five.
“I hope I’ve inspired a lot of kids along the way, particularly those who feel different, those who feel like they don’t belong, or those who say they’ll never make it,” Khawaja told reporters at a news conference.
“I felt all these things growing up and trying to be an Australian cricketer, but seeing is believing. And I’m here to tell you that you can do anything you want. You just have to keep trying.
“I am a proud colored Muslim boy from Pakistan who was told I would never play for the Australian cricket team. Look at me now. You can do the same.”
Khawaja batted for most of his Test career at the top of the middle order, but lost his place in the team for the 2021-22 Ashes series to Marnus Labuschagne.
However, he was called up at the last minute when Travis Head contracted COVID before the Sydney Test and revived his career with centuries in both innings.
Opening with Warner
After that, Khawaja rose to form a successful opening partnership with David Warner, who retired from Test cricket after the SCG Test two years ago.
In this Ashes series, he injured his back in the first match in Perth and missed the second Test before being initially dropped from the team for the third in Adelaide.
He was recalled again in the eleventh hour after Steve Smith suffered a bout of vertigo and, batting at number four rather than opening, scored 82 and 40 as Australia won by 82 runs to clinch the series and retain the tournament.
Khawaja said the media’s treatment of him after the back injury in Perth was proof that he was still treated differently to other players because of his background.
“The way the media and the former players came out and attacked me… I put up with it for about five days straight,” he recalled.
“It was pretty personal in terms of things like, ‘He’s not committed to the team. He was just worried about himself. He played this golf competition the day before.’
“He’s selfish. He doesn’t train enough. He didn’t train the day before the game. He’s lazy. These are the same racial stereotypes I’ve grown up with my whole life.
“I just want the next Usman Khawaja’s journey to be different,” he added. “I want them to be treated the same, not to have racial stereotypes about who they might be.”
