Australian opener Usman Khawaja has announced his retirement. 39-year-old Khawaja told in a press conference that the Sydney Test starting from Sunday (January 4) will be the last international match of his career. Along with announcing his retirement, he has also spoken openly about the discrimination faced by him. Khawaja said that throughout my career I was looked at differently many times because of my Pakistani origin and Muslim identity.
Khawaja was born in Pakistan. His parents came to Australia when he was 5 years old. Khawaja grew up in Sydney. He had to face severe criticism due to his recent injury. Khawaja was seen playing golf before the opening test of the current Ashes series played in Perth. When he was ruled out of the Perth Test due to back pain, the Australian media and former Australian cricketers pounced on him. Khawaja has criticized this attitude of the media and former players.
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I was called lazy – Khwaja
Left-handed batsman Usman Khawaja said, ‘They are still treated a little differently. The way I was treated was different, the incidents were also different. I have back pain which is beyond my control but the media and former players pounce on me. I had to face criticism for about five days. He further said, ‘There were many racial stereotypes about me, like I am lazy, Pakistani, West Indian, black player… We are selfish, we only care about ourselves, we don’t care about the team, we don’t work hard. These were things I have struggled with my entire life.
On linking his back pain to golf, Khawaja said, ‘I can give you many examples when players got injured while playing golf but you people did not say anything about them. I can also give you examples when players drank a lot of beer the night before a match and became unwell but nothing was said about them but when I got injured, my commitment and my image as a person were questioned.
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Took retirement on his own terms
Khawaja was dropped from the third test match played in Adelaide. However, due to Steve Smith being ill, Khawaja got a chance to make a comeback. By scoring 82 runs in the first innings in Adelaide, he confirmed his place in the fourth Test played in Melbourne. Khawaja said that he knew the end of his career was near and he was retiring on his own terms.
He said, ‘I think even before the Ashes started, I knew that this would be my last series. I am happy that I am bidding farewell on my own terms. Khawaja has so far scored 6,206 runs in 87 Test matches at an average of 43.49, which includes 16 centuries and 28 half-centuries.
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