Australian opener Usman Khawaja used his final press conference as an international cricketer to talk less about cricket and more about politics, perception and identity.
In an interview with the media on Friday Khawaja has announced that he will retire at the end of the Ashes A Test series that ends in his hometown with the New Year’s Test starting on January 4.
During a 50-minute interaction with reporters, Khawaja said he has been treated differently than others throughout his career – from the very beginning till now. He said sections of the media and sections of the cricket community have targeted him because of who he is and his outspoken views, particularly on right-wing politics and the Palestinian issue.
“I’ve always felt a bit different, even until now. I’m a colored cricketer and the Australian cricket team is the best national team in my opinion. It’s our pride and joy. But I also felt very different with the way they treated me and the way certain things happened,” Khawaja said.
The 39-year-old opener recalled the chatter around his place in the side when he suffered a back spasm at the start of the Ashes series.
At the start of the current Ashes series, Khawaja suffered a back spasm that ruled him out of opening the batting in the first Test in Perth – a minor but uncontrollable injury that usually attracts routine media coverage. Instead, he was heavily criticized by sections of the media and some former players, questioning his commitment and preparation and even highlighting his participation in pre-match golf.
Khawaja said the backlash went beyond typical sports scrutiny, with comments quickly turning into personal attacks framed by racial stereotypes such as “laziness” or “selfishness”, with the criticism he claimed not directed at other players in similar situations. He said this episode of sustained and personal criticism (lasting several days) reflected deeper prejudices he had faced throughout his career.
“The way – not you specifically – but the way the media and past players came out and attacked me, I could have suppressed it for two days, but I kicked it for about five days straight. And it wasn’t even about my performances. It was about something very personal.”
“It was about my preparation. The way everyone came at me about my preparation was deeply personal. Things like: He’s not committed to the team. He’s only worried about himself. He played this golf tournament the day before — he’s selfish. He doesn’t practice hard enough. He didn’t practice the day before the game. He’s lazy.”
Khawaja said his wife seethed with anger as she went through what was written about him during the episode.
“It’s the same racial stereotypes I’ve grown up with all my life. Rachel read all of it and cooked it up. I remember being in the car next to her and laughing, which made her even angrier. She said, ‘Why are you laughing?’
“I said, ‘These are the same racial stereotypes I’ve dealt with all my life.’ I honestly thought the media – and former players – passed them by. But obviously we haven’t completely moved on.
“I’ve never seen anyone in an Australian cricket team treated like that before. For performances sure – but not for uncontrollables. That disappointed me the most because I thought we were over it.”
‘I HAVE TO FIGHT IT EVERY SINGLE DAY’
Khawaja said the reaction was in stark contrast to how his teammates were treated when they missed Test matches due to injury. He half-jokingly added that the media and former players often expressed sympathy even for those who were unavailable after drinking too much.
“But there’s still a little bit of it, and I have to fight it every day. That’s the frustrating thing. I can give you countless examples of guys who played golf the day before or got hurt and nobody said anything. I can give you even more examples of guys who had 15 schooners last night and then got hurt. And nobody told them anything. They’re just guys.
“For me, it was frustrating that everyone was going after my credibility and who I was as a person. Normally when someone gets hurt, you feel sorry for them. You feel remorse. ‘Oh, Josh Hazlewood is hurt – we’re really sorry for him.’ You don’t attack what happened to him.
“That was the saddest thing for me, and it’s something 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 and now.”
‘I WILL TALK’
Khawaja also addressed the scrutiny he faced for speaking out outside of cricket, saying his willingness to engage in political, social and humanitarian issues made him a target. He reflected on the backlash against his public support for Palestinian rights, his opposition to Islamophobia and anti-immigration rhetoric in Australian politics and the personal toll of being told to “stay in his lane” as an athlete.
Usman Khawaja described the experiences as deeply personal – rooted in his identity as a Muslim immigrant who came to Australia as a child – and said he continues to speak out despite the criticism, motivated by a desire for inclusivity and a fairer path for those who follow him into the sport.
“It’s hit me a lot, especially in the last two years. I understand that I’ve been talking about issues outside of cricket and it exposes me. A lot of people don’t like it. It’s still hard for me to understand why saying that everyone deserves freedom – why saying that the Palestinians deserve freedom and equal rights – is such a big deal. But I get it. I made my point there.
“Even when we talk about Australian politics and there are right-wing politicians who are anti-immigration and support Islamophobia, I speak out against them. I know people don’t like it. But I feel like I have to because they’re trying to divide people and create hatred and animosity in the Australian community. I’m trying to do the opposite. I’m trying to bring people together. I’m trying.
“I’m trying to bring inclusivity to Australia. I’m trying to say: I’m Australian. I’m from Pakistan. I’m an Australian cricketer who loves to play cricket, loves to go out, loves to do everything you do.
“If you want to talk about integration, I have a white wife whom I love and respect, and I have half-Australian, half-Pakistani children. And that frustrates me a lot at times. I know what the older generation says about me – ‘Stay where you are.’ Don’t talk about topics you don’t know. You’re just a cricketer, just do your thing.”
“But how do you think I feel when people talk about immigration or attack Islam or Muslims because of everything that’s going on? I’m an immigrant in Australia. I came here at the age of five. It’s personal. When you attack my faith, my belief system, it’s personal.”
“So yes, I will talk about it. Not many sportsmen do and I understand why – because look what happened to me at the start of the series. And it wasn’t just that. Last year, when the Sheffield Shield thing happened, I was one of the few players who actually played Shield cricket and I was criticized for missing a game. I didn’t tell a lot of team-mates about them who weren’t playing.”
“So yeah, I’ve been dealing with this for a long time. And I know people are going to say, ‘Here he goes again, playing the race card.'” But don’t fire me.
“At the end of the day, people tried to bring me down, but you don’t control my destiny. Only God does that. I respect that. Even though it hurt — it was shit — I don’t feel any angst towards anyone in this room or anyone who said anything. I see it, I move on and I’m past it.
“But I felt I had to raise it. I didn’t want to talk about it, but I want the path to the next Usman Khawaja to be different. I want you to treat him – or her – the same way. Don’t apply racial stereotypes. Treat them with the same mantle as you treat every other cricketer I play with,” he said.
Khawaja is likely to continue batting in the middle order, having scored 153 runs in three Test matches, including a match-winning 83 in the third Test in Adelaide.
– The end
Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
January 2, 2026
