Usman Khawaja called out poor teammate Ian Healy, accused of faking a hamstring injury

Former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy has hit out at Usman Khawaja, accusing the veteran of being a bad teammate and questioning his claims of a hamstring injury that kept him out of last year’s Sheffield Shield match.

A new controversy erupted after Khawaja described his strained relationship with Healy in his autobiography, Sabr. But the former Australian captain hit back in the opening match, insisting his criticism stemmed from what he saw as Queensland’s lack of honesty and commitment.

The incident dates back to last year when Khawaja attended the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne instead of coming to Queensland for the Sheffield Shield match. Khawaja claimed he was unavailable due to a hamstring injury.

However, Healy, who is the deputy chairman of Queensland Cricket, disputed the explanation during an appearance on SEN radio on Thursday.

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“The one that could have broken the camel’s back was this Grand Prix,” said Healy, Australia’s former ODI captain.

“At the time I didn’t know he was going to the Grand Prix and neither did his team (Queensland). He didn’t even tell the team why he wasn’t playing did he.”

Healy claimed Queensland medical staff found no signs of a hamstring injury after examining Khawaja and questioned his decision to miss the match.

“Then he claimed he was injured, so I then argued with all the medical staff in our dressing room and with our high performance boss and they denied the injury.

“They tested him structurally and functionally and said ‘there’s no hammy (injury), you’re right to play.’ He didn’t say that in his book.

“And then (the doctors) said, ‘but let’s get it scanned this afternoon’ and he refused the scan. So that’s what I was going for.”

HEALTHY QUESTIONS OF KHWAJ’S COMMITMENT

The former goalkeeper went on to express his disappointment at Khawaja’s decision and questioned his commitment to his Queensland teammates.

“It’s a shame he doesn’t support his team better than that and then we found out he was going to the Grand Prix,” Healy said.

The latest exchange adds another chapter to the strained relationship between the two Australians. Healy had previously criticized Khawaja for missing Queensland’s next match at the Adelaide Oval, just a fortnight before Australia were due to play a Test at the same venue.

Khawaja’s decision to address the criticism at Sabr has now brought the dissent back into the limelight, with Healy making it clear that he stands by his assessment of the situation.

Despite the controversy, Khawaja enjoyed a distinguished career with Queensland. He represented the Bulls in 64 first-class matches, scoring 4,317 runs at an average of 45.44. He also featured in 55 one-day matches and amassed 2,634 runs at an impressive average of 50.65.

Khawaja captained Queensland from 2015 to 2024 and played a key role in the team’s Sheffield Shield triumph in the 2020–21 season.

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