Usman Khawaja has announced his retirement from international cricket, saying the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney will be his last and calling out racism he experienced throughout his career.
The batter’s future in Test cricket has been one of the hottest topics of this summer’s Ashes series – he turned 39 last month.
With Australia 3-1 up in the series headed into the final Test, Khawaja confirmed he would be calling time after the final SCG Test.
“God through cricket has given me far more than I could have imagined,” he said. “He’s given me memories I’ll carry forever, friendship that goes well beyond the game, and lessons that shaped me, who I am, off the field.
“But no career belongs to one person. I obviously had a lot of help. To my parents, who are over there, thank you for your sacrifices that never made the highlights reel.”
Khawaja moved to Sydney from Pakistan as a child, and scored his first Ashes century there with 171 against England in 2018.
The veteran called out the racial stereotyping he had received in the media in the past and in the lead up to the Ashes regarding his preparation and back issues in the first Test.
“[Comments] like, ‘he’s not committed to the team,’” Khawaja said. “‘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 stereotypes, the racial stereotypes I’ve grown up with my whole life … 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.”
Bowing out at the SCG against England will be a fitting location, given it was there Khawaja made his Test debut in the 2010-11 Ashes series, and is close to his home.
“Funnily enough, I live just up the road from the SCG,” he said.
“And I’ll never forget when I was younger, I saw Michael Slater drive in his red Ferrari. I couldn’t believe my luck. I just saw a Test cricketer. And as a boy, whose parents were barely scraping through in trying to provide for their kids in a little two-bedroom apartment, I thought, ‘One day, I’m going to be a Test cricketer and one day I can drive whatever I want.’”
It was also at the SCG that he revived his career as a 35-year-old, scoring twin centuries against England when Travis Head missed a Test in 2022 due to Covid.
That prompted one of the great late-career revivals, hitting seven centuries in his first two years back in the side.
“This game humbles you,” Khawaja said.
“It tests your patience, your resilience and your character. And if you’re lucky, it teaches you gratitude.
“Even on days that it doesn’t go your way, I hope I’ve inspired many children along the way, particularly those who feel that they are different, those who feel they don’t belong, or those others tell they will never make it. I felt all these things growing up, and trying to be an Australian cricketer, but seeing is believing.
“I’m a proud Muslim, coloured boy from Pakistan who was told that he would never play for the Australian cricket team. Look at me now. And you can do the same.
“As I walk off for the last time, I do so with gratitude and peace. Or as we say, ‘salam’. Grateful for the journey, the people, the lessons. Thank you for letting me live my dream and for sharing it with me.”
Khawaja’s position had come under extra scrutiny this summer after being unable to play in the first Test in Perth due to back spasms, then missing the Brisbane Test with the injury.
He was initially left out in Adelaide before Steve Smith’s vertigo allowed him to return. Scoring 82 in the first innings ensured he would stay in the side for the fourth Test in Melbourne.
Khawaja becomes just the second player to walk away while still in the Australian Test team in the past decade, after David Warner’s exit two summers ago.
Usman Khawaja’s Test career:
Tests: 87
Runs: 6,206
Average: 43.39
Centuries: 16
Half-centuries: 28
