Usman Khawaja Walks Away on His Own Terms as a True Modern Australian Great
Usman Khawaja has never followed a script written by anyone else, and it feels only fitting that his retirement from Test cricket has unfolded the same way. After 15 years, 88 Test matches, and countless moments that demanded resilience, patience, and belief, Khawaja is stepping away as one of Australia’s most important modern-day cricketers, both on the scoreboard and beyond it.
From the very start, it was clear Khawaja was different. His Test debut came in the 2011 New Year’s Test against England at the SCG, a tough Ashes series that Australia would rather forget. Thrown into the fire at number three in place of an injured Ricky Ponting, he announced himself immediately. The first eight balls of his Test career went for 15 runs, played with a fluency and confidence that hinted at a fearless talent. Even then, it was being done his own way.
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What followed, though, was not a smooth rise. Khawaja’s career became defined by stops and starts. He was dropped, recalled, overlooked again, and at times seemed permanently on the fringes. There were four separate calendar years when he didn’t play a single Test. Others from his generation piled up caps, but Khawaja kept fighting, often quietly, often stubbornly. That persistence eventually paid off in dramatic fashion.
When he was recalled for the 2022 Ashes Test in Sydney, few could have predicted what was coming next. From that moment on, Khawaja transformed himself into one of the most reliable Test openers in world cricket. Big runs followed at home and abroad, and doubts about his place were finally silenced. By the time he announced his retirement, more Test runs had been scored by him than Australian legends like Adam Gilchrist and Ian Chappell, with 16 Test centuries to his name.
Yet numbers alone do not explain Khawaja’s true legacy. As Australia’s first Muslim men’s Test cricketer, his impact has reached far beyond the boundary rope. He spoke openly about racism, stereotypes, and the barriers faced by players from diverse backgrounds. His faith was never hidden, never softened, and was instead embraced as part of who he is. In doing so, doors were opened for the next generation, players who now see Australian cricket as a space where they belong.
Khawaja’s farewell at the SCG, the ground where he grew up watching the game, feels symbolic. He leaves as a fighter, a role model, and a reminder that success does not have to follow a straight line. He wrote his own story, refused to be defined by setbacks, and exits the game having changed it. If Usman Khawaja’s career teaches us anything, it’s that doing things your own way can still lead you right to the top.
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