Stand-in Australian captain Steve Smith has jokingly revealed that veteran batsman Usman Khawaja "hates" the national cricket team, following a string of demotions from the Test side that preceded his remarkable career resurgence.
A 'Wonderful' Career Draws to a Close
The revelation came as Smith paid a warm tribute to Khawaja, a day after the opening batter announced the Sydney Ashes Test would be his final match wearing the coveted baggy green. Smith lauded Khawaja's "wonderful" and "outstanding" career, recalling his own awe upon first seeing the left-hander bat in under-age matches for New South Wales some two decades ago.
"I remember playing against him in a couple of under-17 vs under-19 games for NSW and watching him bat," Smith said. "The way he pulled the ball, I was like, 'This guy picks length up quicker than anyone I've seen'."
The 'Blessing in Disguise' of Repeated Setbacks
Smith, who was captain during part of this period, acknowledged his own role in Khawaja's stop-start international journey. The Islamabad-born, Sydney-raised player was dropped from the Test side seven times in the eight years leading up to the 2019 Ashes series. One notable omission was for the 2017 tour of India, due to concerns over his technique against spin bowling.
"He hates us for it but he got that opportunity to go back and figure ways to play," Smith remarked light-heartedly. "Whether he would've done that had he kept playing, I'm not sure." This period of adversity, however, forged a remarkable comeback. Khawaja now boasts the second-highest average on the subcontinent of any Australian to play more than five Tests there.
"He's arguably one of our best players of spin now," Smith conceded. "Maybe a blessing in disguise."
Legacy Beyond the Boundary
As Khawaja prepares to finish as the 15th greatest Test run-scorer in Australian history, Smith reflected on a legacy that extends far beyond statistics. Khawaja, Australia's first Muslim and Pakistani-born Test cricketer, has become a powerful advocate for marginalised communities and has helped light a pathway for players of subcontinental heritage.
This advocacy was evident on Friday when Khawaja confronted what he perceived as "racial stereotypes" in media criticism of a back injury he sustained during the Perth Test this summer, after playing golf. Smith agreed the criticism over the golf incident was "unfair," but declined to comment further on Khawaja's feelings of being treated differently from teammates.
"I'm not going into the mind of Usman Khawaja," Smith stated. "Some of the stuff around him getting injured when he played golf the day before the game, that was unfair. I think he's done that for 15 years and had a pretty good career. To the rest of it, I can't really say too much on that. That's Usman's views."
As the cricketing world prepares to farewell a modern great at the SCG, the story of Usman Khawaja remains one of immense talent, frustrating setbacks, and an ultimately triumphant and influential career.
