'Past Players Attacked Me': Usman Khawaja Slams Ex-Cricketers After Announcing Retirement

Star batter Usman Khawaja has said that he always felt a little bit ‘different’ from the rest of the Australian team, due to his background and race, adding that when he suffered back spasms during the first Test in Perth, the media and several former cricketers attacked him, which was too much to handle.

Should he be selected, Khawaja will pad up for the final time when the Test starts in Sydney on Sunday, January 4, bringing months of speculation about his future to an end.

It would be an 88th Test for Khawaja, culminating a career that started after making his debut at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2011, also against England.

“I have always felt a little bit different, even to now. I am a coloured cricketer. The Australian cricket team is, in

my opinion, that is our best team. It is our pride and joy. But I have also felt very different in a lot of respects, different by the way I have been treated, different in how things have happened,” Khawaja said while speaking to the media, announcing his retirement.

“I had back spasms and that is something I could not control. But the way the media and the past players came out and attacked me, I could have copped it for two days, but I copped it for about five days straight,” Khawaja added.

The star Australian batter said that he could point to countless examples of cricketers who didn’t face the same level of criticism he endured, which he believes was influenced by his race.

“There is still a little bit out there, which I still have to fight every single day, which is the frustrating thing for me. I can give you a countless number of guys who play golf the day before and have been injured,” Khawaja said.