Australia cricketer Usman Khawaja announced his retirement from international cricket today, confirming that the Sydney Test would be his last. After the announcement, he also hit out at the racial stereotyping he faced during his career that spanned 15 years.
Usman Khawaja hit out at racial stereotyping during his career after announcing retirement from international cricket today in Sydney. He confirmed that the Sydney Test against England would be the last of his career but also revealed that he had been frustrated and hurt for being treated differently to other Australian players throughout his career.
It was a 50-minute press conference at the SCG press room where Khawaja opened up for the first time on the racial stereotyping he faced in his career. Notably, he was born in Pakistan and was the first Muslim to play Test cricket for Australia. “I’ve always felt a little bit different, even to now.ย I’m a coloured cricketer. The Australian cricket team is, in my opinion … that’s our best team. It’s our pride and joy. But I’ve also felt very different in a lot of respects, different by the way I’ve been treated, different for how things have happened,” Khawaja said.
Khawaja opens up on the controversy in his career
For the first time in his career, Khawaja also opened up on the criticism he copped for playing golf in the lead-up to the Perth Test and suffering from back spasms. His commitment towards the team was questioned then. The 39-year-old stated that he felt like being singled out by the media and former players at the time, while also claiming that not a single player apart from him received such a level of criticism for getting injured while playing golf.
“Iย had back spasms, and that’s something I couldn’t control. But the way the media and the past players came out and attacked me, I could have copped it for two days, but I copped it for about five days straight. And it wasn’t even about my performances.ย It was about something very personal, it’s about my preparation.
“And the way everyone came at me about my preparation, it was quite personal in terms of things like, he’s not committed to the team, he was only worried about himself, he played this golf comp the day before, he’s selfish, he doesn’t train hard enough, he didn’t train with them the day before the game, he’s lazy. These are the same stereotypes, the racial stereotypes I’ve grown up with my whole life,” the opening batter added.
“I just thought that the media and the old players and everyone else had moved past it, but we obviously haven’t fully moved past it, because I’ve never seen anyone been treated like that in the Australian cricket team before. I can give you countless number of guys who play golf the day before and have been injured. You guys haven’t said a thing. No one else said a thing,” he said.ย
Interestingly, Australian players have suffered golf injuries before, with the recent instance being of Josh Inglis who cut his hand on the golf course and got ruled out of T20 World Cup 2022. Even Glenn Maxwell missed an ODI during the 2023 World Cup.ย after suffering concussion when falling off the back of a golf cart.