Sports

When I get injured, everyone went at my credibility… same racial stereotype I’ve grown up with: Usman Khawaja

By Samira Vishwas

In an emotional press conference that lasted nearly an hour, Usman Khawaja announced more than just his retirement from international cricket. The Aussie veteran spoke in detail about how he has been treated differently by media and former cricketers, expressing angst about the racial stereotypes he has had to deal with, which he felt was prevalent even in this Ashes. Excerpts from his press conference….

Usman Khawaja

I’ve always felt a little bit different, even to now. I am a coloured cricketer. I have felt very differently because of the way I’ve been treated. Something that’s been on my mind, from the start of the series I noticed, when I did my back and had back spasms. It was something I couldn’t control. 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. It was quite personal, it was about my preparation. Everyone came at me about that, 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 the day before the game, he’s lazy’.

 

These are the same racial stereotypes I’ve grown up with my whole life. I just thought the past players, the media and everyone had moved past them, but we obviously haven’t because I’ve never seen anyone be treated like that in the Australian cricket team before. For their performances, sure, but not for the uncontrollables, the way you guys went at me. That was the thing that disappointed me the most because I thought we were past that, but there’s still a little bit out there which I still have to fight every single day, which is the frustrating thing for me.

I can give you countless number of guys who have played golf the day before (a match) and been injured and you guys haven’t said a thing. I can give you even more guys who have had 15 schooners the night before and then gotten injured, no one said a word. That’s all right – they’re just being Aussie larrikins, right? They’re just being lads.

But when I get injured everyone went at my credibility and who I am as a person. Normally when someone gets injured you feel a bit sorry for them, you feel a little bit of remorse. You know, poor Josh Hazlewood or poor Nathan Lyon, he’s gotten injured – we feel sorry for them, we don’t attack what happened to them.

That’s probably the thing I’ve been most sad about, and that’s what I’ve been dealing with for a long time. I don’t talk about it a lot, but I felt like I needed to talk about it right here, right now. I kind of know why I get nailed a lot of the time, particularly last two years. I understand that I’ve talked about certain issues outside cricket, which leaves me exposed and a lot of people don’t like that. I still find it hard when I say that everyone deserves freedom and that Palestinians deserve freedom and equal rights, and why that’s a big issue.

Usman Khawaja retirement Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja with his wife Rachel and daughters Aisha and Ayla after announcing that he will retire from international cricket following the fifth and final Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Even when we get to Australian politics, and we get all these right-wing politicians that are anti-immigration and (fuel) Islamophobia, and I speak up against them, I know that people don’t love that. But I feel like I have to because where these guys are trying to divide and create hate and trying to create animosity in the Australian community, I’m doing the exact opposite. I’m trying to bring everyone together… I know what the older generation and people say about me to ‘stay in your spot and don’t speak about topics that you don’t know because you’re just a cricketer so do your thing’.

How do you think it makes me feel when people talk about immigration or they start attacking Islam or Muslims for everything that’s going on? I am an immigrant in Australia. I came here when I was five, so it’s personal. When you start attacking my faith and my belief system, then it’s personal and I am going to start talking about it because not many athletes do. I understand why they don’t because look at what happened to me at the start of the series when I got absolutely nailed.

I just want the journey for the next Usman Khawaja to be different. I want you to treat him or her the same and to not have any racial stereotypes of who they may be. I want you to treat them with the same cloak, the same way you’d treat any of my wholesome other cricketers that I play with.

For me, it’s been a different journey, and I noticed that more than ever particularly at the start of this series with everything that’s going on. I’ll never stop being who I am. I’m an Australian, I love cricket and I’ll continue to be the best person that I can be. There’s still a bit to go, but the sport is definitely in a better spot.

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