Far-left Pakistan-born Muslim cricketer Usman Khawaja has ranted about being the victim of alleged racism and discrimination after retiring from the Australian team, which he has previously labelled as “very White”.
Khawaja, who has regularly used his platform as a sporting celebrity to push his left-wing views on the Australian public, advocate for mass immigration and multiculturalism and complain about “islamophobia”, announced on Friday he would be retiring after the fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney, his 88th.
During his retirement comments he described himself as a “proud Muslim, coloured boy from Pakistan”, accused critics who were upset with his management of back problems early in the series of racism, claimed selectors dropped him because of his ethnic background, and repeatedly thanked Allah.
Far-left Pakistan-born Muslim cricketer Usman Khawaja has ranted about racism while announcing his retirement from the Australian team, which he has referred to as “very White”.
He also hit back at critics of his activism, saying: “I’m an immigrant to Australia. It’s personal” pic.twitter.com/FndLDXGuYp
— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) January 2, 2026
Speaking about his back issues he claimed that he’d “never seen anyone treated like that in the Australian team before”, and blamed “racial stereotypes”.
“The way the media and 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 was about my preparation,” he said.
“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 the day before the game, he’s lazy’.
“These are the same racial stereotypes I’ve grown up with my whole life … we obviously haven’t fully moved past them.
At one stage during the 50-minute press conference he complained that despite trying hard to fit in after being selected, he “kept getting dropped from the Australian cricket team”.
“I get it. My name isn’t John Smith. When the 50-50 calls happen, they’re just not going my way,” he said, echoing comments he made in the past that he “didn’t fit the mould” because the team was “very White”, and saying “in the future the Australian team will be represented by a lot of different nationalities”.
He then justified his political activism by claiming he was “trying to bring everyone together”, and lashed out at “right-wing politicians who are anti-immigration”.
“I’m trying to bring inclusivity into Australia. I’m trying to say I’m the Australian Muslim from Pakistan, and I’m the Australian cricketer right in front of you, who loves playing cricket, loves going out and doing everything that you do. And if you talk about integrating into the country, I’ve got a White wife over there who I love and cherish, and I’ve got half Australian half Pakistani kids, and so that is very frustrating to me at times.
“I know what people say about me, ‘Stay in your spot, don’t speak about topics that you don’t know, you’re just a cricketer, do your thing’.
“But how do you think it makes me feel when people talk about immigration or they start attacking Islam or Muslims for everything that’s going on? I’m an immigrant to Australia. I came here at the age of five. It’s personal, it is.
“I know [people will be saying] I’m up here, he’s playing the race card again, but don’t gaslight me.”
Last year Khawaja wrote the introduction to the far-left “islamophobia” report written by the Labor government’s Special Envoy on Combating Islamophobia, in which he claimed Jesus was a “person of colour” and called 9/11 a “tragedy” without mentioning Islamic terrorism.
