Usman Khawaja announces retirement from international cricket, set to play his last game in Sydney against England

Usman Khawaja made his test debut for Australia in 2011.

Australian Cricket Team batter Usman Khawaja has announced his retirement from international cricket on Friday, January 2. The left-handed batsman will play in the fifth and final test of The Ashes 2025-26 against England, which will be his last game in international cricket.

The Sydney test is scheduled to be played from January 4 to 8. It will be the 88th test match for Khawaja, who made his test debut back in 2011. In the previous test of The Ashes in Melbourne, he crossed the mark of 8000 runs in international cricket. So far, he has featured in 87 tests, 40 ODIs, and nine T20Is.

He was part of the Australia team that won ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23. He was also named the Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year in 2023. Khawaja is the first Pakistan-born cricketer to represent Australia in international cricket.

I will be retiring from all international cricket after the SCG Test match: Usman Khawaja

In a press conference on Friday, Khawaja shared his decision to retire from international cricket.

“I’m here to announce today that I will be retiring from all international cricket after the SCG Test match. God, through cricket, has given me far more than I could have imagined. He’s given me memories I’ll carry forever, friendship that goes well beyond the game, and lessons that shaped me, who I am, off the field,” he said.

“But no career belongs to one person. I obviously had a lot of help. To my parents, thank you for your sacrifices that never made the highlights reel,” he added.

“Funnily enough, I live just up the road from the SCG, on Cook Road, to be exact. And as a boy, whose parents were barely scraping through in trying to provide for their kids in a little two-bedroom apartment, I thought, ‘One day, I’m going to be a Test cricketer,” concluded Khawaja.

Meanwhile, Khawaja suffered back issues in the first test of The Ashes, due to which he also left the field in the first innings. Later, he was ruled out of the second test but made a comeback in the third and fourth games.

Moreover, he was also moved down to the middle-order in the series, with Travis Head and Jake Weatherald grabbing the opening slots. Across six innings, the 39-year-old has scored one half-century- an 82-run knock in the third test at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide.

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