Khawaja, who was born in Pakistan and was the first Muslim to play Test cricket for Australia, said the criticism was in keeping with what he has received across his career.
“I’ve always felt a little bit different, even to now,” Khawaja said. “I’m a coloured cricketer. The Australian cricket team is, in my opinion … that’s our best team. It’s our pride and joy. But I’ve also felt very different in a lot of respects, different by the way I’ve been treated, different for how things have happened.
“I had back spasms, and that’s something I couldn’t 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. And it wasn’t even about my performances.
“It was about something very personal, it’s about my preparation. And the way everyone came at me about my preparation, it was quite personal in terms of things like, he’s not committed to the team, he was only worried about himself, he played this golf comp the day before, he’s selfish, he doesn’t train hard enough, he didn’t train with them the day before the game, he’s lazy. These are the same stereotypes, the racial stereotypes I’ve grown up with my whole life.
“I just thought that the media and the old players and everyone else had moved past it, but we obviously haven’t fully moved past it, because I’ve never seen anyone been treated like that in the Australian cricket team before.”
Australian players have suffered golf related injuries before with Josh Inglis ruled out of the 2022 T20 World Cup after cutting his hand on the golf course while Glenn Maxwell missed an ODI during the 2023 World Cup after suffering concussion when falling off the back of a golf cart.
Khawaja said he could cite countless other examples of players who have not received the same level of criticism he did because of his race.
“There’s still a little bit out there, which I still have to fight every single day, which is the frustrating thing for me,” Khawaja said. “I can give you countless number of guys who play golf the day before and have been injured. You guys haven’t said a thing. No one else said a thing.
“I can give you even more probably guys who’ve had 15 schooners the night before and then got injured. No one said a word. That’s all right. They’re just being Aussie larrikins, right? They’re just being lads. So for me, that was the frustrating part. But when I get injured, everyone went at my credibility and who I am as a person.”
Khawaja again believed he was singled out when fellow Australian player Nathan Lyon was also at the Grand Prix and missed the entire back end of the Shield season to rest a hip issue, while Steven Smith skipped the rest of the season post the Champions Trophy to spend time in New York.
“You guys had a crack at me for missing a game, yet plenty of my team-mates, who were not playing, you didn’t say a word to them,” Khawaja said. “So for me, I’ve been dealing with this stuff a long time. And for me, I know I’m up here talking about topics and people are like, okay, Uzzy’s here, he’s playing the race card again, but don’t gaslight me.
“I felt that I had to bring this up. I didn’t want to talk about this, but I just want the journey for the next Usman Khawaja to be different. I want you to treat him or her all the same, not have racial stereotypes of who they might be. Treat them with the same cloak that you would treat any of my wholesome other cricketers that I play with.”
Alex Malcolm is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
