Usman Khawaja

Usman Tariq Khawaja (born 18 December 1986) is an Australian cricketer who represents Australia and Queensland.

A left-handed top order batsman, Khawaja was awarded Player of the Australian Under-19 Championship in 2005 and also played for Australia in the 2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka as an opening batsman.

Khawaja made his first-class cricket debut for New South Wales in 2008 and played his first international match for Australia in January 2011.

He has also played county cricket in the United Kingdom and briefly played in both the Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League Twenty20 tournaments.

Khawaja was a member of the Australian team that won the 2021–2023 ICC World Test Championship.

Furthermore, he was the second-highest scoring batsman in the 2021–2023 ICC World Test Championship with 1,621 runs, the highest by an Australian batsman.

In 2023, he won the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year Award.

Usman was born in Islamabad, Pakistan, to Tariq Khawaja and Fozia Tariq.

His family emigrated to New South Wales when he was four.

He made his first-class debut for the New South Wales Blues in 2008.

In the same year, he hit consecutive double centuries for the NSW Second XI—a feat never before achieved by a NSW player.

He became the first Australian of Pakistani origin to represent Australia in cricket when he made his debut in the 2010–11 Ashes series.

He is a qualified commercial and instrument-rated pilot, completing a bachelor's degree in aviation from the University of New South Wales before he made his Test debut.

He attained his basic pilot licence before his driving licence.

He was educated at Westfields Sports High School.

On 22 June 2010 it was announced by Cricket Australia that Usman Khawaja would be a part of the Australian touring squad to play Pakistan in a two Test series in England.

From 2011 to February 2022, Khawaja played for the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League.

In BBL05, he was the second highest run scorer, scoring 345 runs at an average of 172.50.

Khawaja signed a contract to play for county side Derbyshire in the 2011 English domestic season.

He played in four County Championship matches, averaging 39.87 with the bat and scoring a century (135) against Kent.

After his county stint, he made five further Test appearances in 2011, scoring one half-century (65) against South Africa.

He was dropped from Australia's Test team after the home series against New Zealand, making way for Shaun Marsh upon Marsh's return from injury.

Lancashire signed Khawaja as an overseas player for the 2014 county season for all formats.

Khawaja scored 86 runs on his debut against Durham but in vain as Lancashire lost by 27 runs.

He plays club cricket for Valley District Cricket Club in Brisbane.

In August 2015, Khawaja was appointed as captain of the Queensland cricket team, replacing previous captain James Hopes.

Usman Khawaja announced his engagement on 14 December 2016 on his Facebook page.

and subsequently married his wife Rachel on 6 April 2018.

Rachel Khawaja (née McLellan) converted to Islam prior to their wedding.

Khawaja is a dual Australian and Pakistani citizen.

In December 2023, during a training session for Australia's first test match of the series against Pakistan, Khawaja wore shoes on which the words "All lives are equal" and "freedom is a human right" were written in the colours of the Palestinian flag.

The ICC warned Khawaja that it would sanction him if he continued to wear the shoes.

During the first test match against Pakistan at Perth, he covered the writing on his shoes with tape and wore black armbands.

The ICC ruled that the wearing of black armbands breached its clothing and equipment regulations.

Khawaja stated that he "respect[s] the ICC and the rules and regulations" and will request the ICC apply "consistency in how they officiate".

Khawaja made a post on Instagram using the hashtags “#inconsistent and #doublestandards,” in which he pointed out several examples of other cricketers with symbols on their bats, such as ‘Om’ sticker for a Hindu player, or Bible verses and crosses for others.

In response to Khawaja's issues with the ICC, former cricketer and commentator Michael Holding denounced the ICC for "hypocrisy and lack of moral standing," for allowing the players to "take the knee for Black Lives Matter" and having their stumps covered with LGBTQ colours.

Australia captain Pat Cummins also defended Khawaja, stating that "We really support Uzzy. He's standing up for what he believes and I think he's done it really respectfully."

In April 2018, he was signed by Glamorgan County Cricket Club to play in the 2018 Vitality Blast tournament in England.

In April 2021, he was signed by Islamabad United to play the rescheduled matches in the 2021 Pakistan Super League.