Usman Khawaja Announces Retirement from International Cricket, Sydney Test to Be His Last

Australian left-handed opening batsmen Usman Khawaja has announced his retirement from international cricket. The fifth test of the ongoing Ashes series to be held on January 4 at Sydney will be his last test match as he is now 39 years old. Khawaja made his retirement announcement at a press conference on Friday morning.

Usman Khawaja is one of those Australian cricketers who has played international cricket in all three forms, but he is most prominent as a hard-hitting opener in international Tests. He is long regarded as one of the most charming openers to play for the Australian team in his particular role. Usman Khawaja is one of those international cricketers from Australia who, in his 15-year-long career, has made many records. There would be many young international cricketers. 

Khwaja is the first Pakistani-origin player to represent Australia in international cricket. On this occasion, he is the first Muslim player ever to represent Australia. He is the first Australian batsman to score a Test century in a day-night match in Australia. He is the second-oldest player after Bradman to score a Test double century. He is the first Australian batsman to score a Test double century in Sri Lanka. Khawaja is the Australian player to have faced the most balls in a Test innings in India. He faced 422 balls in his 180-run innings in the Ahmedabad Test in 2013.

Coming from Pakistan and playing for such a strong team like Australia for such a long time is certainly a major achievement for Usman Khawaja and an inspiration for cricketers who dream of playing for another country's national team. Khawaja also mentioned this during his retirement announcement. The left-handed batsman's journey has not been easy. He was dropped from the team seven times, but he never gave up and made a strong comeback each time. The Sydney Test, starting January 4th, will be the last Test of his career.

Regarding Khawaja's career, he made his Test debut in 2011 and ODI debut in 2013. He has scored 6,206 runs in 157 innings of 87 Tests at an average of 43.39, with 16 centuries and 28 half-centuries. His highest score is 232. He has also scored 1,554 runs in 39 innings of 40 ODIs, with 2 centuries and 12 half-centuries. He has scored 241 runs in 9 T20Is, with 1 half-century. Khawaja played his last ODI in 2019 and his last T20I in 2016.