Usman Khawaja has declared that he would leave international cricket after the New Year’s Test against England. The 39-year-old spoke to the media ahead of the Sydney Test, informing all of his Australian colleagues just moments before announcing that his 88th Test match appearance would be his final in international cricket.
Khawaja was born in Islamabad, Pakistan and arriving here when he was five, going from one cricket mad country to another. Ever since then, all he’s known is life having revolved around representing Australia in cricket, at any level. He is a New South Wales cricketer and made his debut in the team just three years after he started playing First Class cricket in 2008. It was only natural for him to feel that way when he had made it.
“It’s been tough, I’ve just wanted to tell everyone. I told teammates just then. I didn’t think I’d get emotional but I teared up straightaway and I had to compose myself. I finally composed myself and got out what I wanted to say. I never thought I’d be the guy that would cry when he retired but I cried straightaway. It just shows what it means to me,” Khawaja told the media.
“My journey has been different to a lot of cricketers in the Australian cricket team. All that emotion built up. I just want to be remembered as a humble cricketer who went out there and entertained, and (that) people enjoyed watching.”
Usman Khawaja
Despite representing Australia in all three formats of the game, Khawaja’s true rebirth occurred as a red-ball cricketer. He has over 6000 runs in Test match cricket, including 16 centuries at an average of over 43. With the upcoming game being his last, he wouldn’t mind hitting 17 hundreds and leading into his second innings with a successful first.
