As we are nearing the last and final test match of the 2025/2026 Ashes, it is confirmed that Usman Khawaja to retire from International career after making his debut way back in 2011 against the England team in the test format. He will also play his last match against the England team, which is the fifth match of the Ashes series. The date for the fifth test match is 4th January 2026 (Sunday), and the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney will be the venue.
Usman Khawaja was born on 18th of December 1986, in Islamabad, Pakistan. He was told that he would never play for the Australian team, but now, when we look at it, he surely will be in the history books of the Australian cricket team. After making his debut in 2011 in the test match format, it took him two more years to make his debut in the ODI format, as he made his debut against Sri Lanka in 2013. Finally, in 2016, he made his T20I debut, and it was against the Indian team.
Also check out: Usman Khawaja Net Worth 2025: Contract, Salary, Sponsorships, Investments, and Lifestyle
Usman Khawaja to retire from International career: Pakistan-born Australian cricketer inspired many individuals as he says “I’m trying to bring everyone together”
From his debut, Usman Khawaja has played more than 125 matches for the Australian Cricket team, and the majority of his matches are in the test format. In those matches, he has scored more than 7,500 runs, which includes forty half-centuries and 18 centuries, across all formats combined. He has been one of the most reliable batters of his team and has stepped up when the team has needed him the most. A beautiful chapter will come to an end after the fifth Ashes test.
I’m a proud Muslim, coloured boy from Pakistan who was told that he would never play for the Australian cricket team. Look at me now. And you can do the same.
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.
Absolutely, it definitely is. There’s still a bit to go, but the sport is definitely in a better spot. There’s still challenges because if you look at Australia outside, it’s such a multicultural community. The amount of participation we have in cricket, subcontinent players particularly… we don’t see that always in the Australian cricket team.
And I get it. The Australian cricket team’s hard to make. There’s 11 spots. It’s not easy. We don’t want to just gift people spots. We definitely have improved on that, but there’s still an undertone here and there. There’s still challenges to be faced. We can’t just be like, yeah, we fixed everything, everything’s fine. It’s not.
But that’s all right. You’ve just got to accept that it’s not fine. It’ll probably never be 100% fine. It’s very normal. But we’ve got to try to get as close to equality as we can. I think we are heading to that spot.
In a recent interview, he spoke about how difficult it was for him when he started playing cricket for Australia, and he wishes the story of the next to Usman Khawaja to be more different than this, as the player does not face any racial stereotypes about who they might be. Usman also spoke about his knowing that it is hard to make it into the Australian team, as they are the ones to win the most ICC trophies.
He also understands that the team only has 11 spots to fill and that there is great competition. Usman thinks there are many challenges to be faced, and it can be like the things are fixed, but in reality, they aren’t. He also spoke about how everyone who accepts that it is not fine and we should not be okay with that. Lastly, he said that they have to get as close to equality as they can, and he thinks that things are going in the right direction.