When Australia won the fifth Ashes Test at Sydney Cricket Ground on January 8 to claim the series 4-1, it was the farewell match for Usman Khawaja who had already announced to retire from international cricket.
It was the same ground where he made his Test debut against the same opponents in the 2010-11 series, exactly 15 years and one day ago.
The 39-year-old stylish left-handed batsman has represented Australia in all three formats of the game from 2011 to 2026. He scored 6,229 runs with 16 hundreds and 28 fifties in 88 Tests, 1,554 runs with two centuries and 12 half-centuries in 40 One-day Internationals and 241 runs with one fifty in just nine Twenty20 Internationals.
Born on December 18, 1986 in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, Usman Tariq Khawaja immigrated to Australia as a child, battling the odds to to become the country’s first Pakistani-born and first Muslim Test cricketer.
At one point, he was the only Asian first-class player in Australia and is credited as a role model who opened doors for others.
” I’m proud Muslim coloured boy from Pakistan who was told that he would never play for the Australian cricket team.
”I’m lucky to have played so many games for Australia the way I have,” Khawaja said. I hope I have inspired people along the way.”
”Usman has made a huge contribution to Australian cricket both through his outstanding achievements as one of our most stylist and resilient batters since his Test debut 15 years ago, and off the field, particularly through the Usman Khawaja Foundation,” said Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg.
Khawaja’s Foundation helps youths from refugee, immigrant, indigenous, and poor socioeconomic backgrounds through introductory cricket programms and educational support.
Usman Khawaja is a qualified commercial and instrument-rated pilot, completing a bachelor’s degree in aviation from the University of New South Wales before he made his Test debut.
He is married to Rachel (nee McLellan) in 2018. She converted to Islam prior to their wedding. They have two daughters.