Australia Test batter Usman Khawaja has announced the Sydney Test of the ongoing Ashes series will be the final of his international career. Khawaja has thus far played 87 Tests and scored 6,206 runs at an average
of 43.39. He has 16 centuries and 28 half-centuries with a career-best individual score of 232.
“I’ve been thinking about it, not wholly, but for a while,” Khawaja said at the SCG on Friday. “Moving into this series, I kind of had an inkling in my head that this would be the last series.”
Khawaja’s family – his wife Rachel and two kids – was also present during the announcement.
The 39-year-old revealed that he had discussions with Australia head coach Andrew McDonald over the possibility of continuing his Test career so that he could feature in the tour of India in 2027.
“I talked to Rachel about it a fair bit, and I knew this was a big chance. I didn’t leave the door fully shut, because I knew there was a chance I could play on. I know (coach) Andrew McDonald even right till the very end, when I told him a few days ago, he was still thinking about how I could get to India,” Khawaja said.
“I’m glad I get to leave on my own terms, with a little bit of dignity and go out at the SCG where I love. But I think the start of the series was a pretty tough time. Then going into Adelaide and not being picked initially for the game, that was probably a sign for me to say, ‘all right, it’s time to move on’,” he added.
Khawaja, the first Muslim to play Test cricket for Australia, also took a shot at critics for indicating that he was being selfish for not retiring earlier.
“I said to him (McDonald), ‘if, at any stage right now, if you want me to retire, I will retire straight away. I have no issue. I’m not hanging on for myself’,” Khawaja said.
“That was the most annoying thing, because I felt people were coming at me, and I felt they were saying I was selfish for staying on. But I wasn’t staying on for myself. Andrew McDonald practically said, ‘no, I want you to stay. We need you for Sri Lanka and the World Test Championship. I want you to stay on’. And so I did,” he added.
Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg hailed Khawaja’s contribution to Australian cricket.
“Usman has made a huge contribution to Australian cricket both through his outstanding achievements as one of our most stylish and resilient batters since his Test debut 15 years ago, and off field, particularly through the Usman Khawaja Foundation. On behalf of Australian Cricket, I would like to thank and congratulate Usman for all he has achieved,” Greenberg said.
Khawaja also played 40 ODIs and 9 T20Is between 2013 and 2019.
