Was told I would never play for Australia because of my skin colour, Khawaja opens up on racism in cricket

Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has opened up about facing racism when he moved to Down Under from Pakistan in the early 1990s.

When Khawaja made his Australia debut at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) during an Ashes Test in 2011, he became the first Muslim cricketer to represent the national side of the country in cricket.

Khawaja, who has now represented Australia over 90 times on the highest level of cricket, has said that initially, he never liked being considered a trailblazer for inclusivity in Australian cricket, but now he has realised the impact he has had over time.

"I think when I was younger, I didn't like it, I sort of shied away from it. I just wanted to be known for my cricket. But then as I started growing up, and started being more involved in cricket, people with subcontinent heritage in Australia came up to me and said "we're so happy to see you at the top. Seeing someone like you, we feel we've got a part in the Australian team, and we support the Australian team. We didn't do before and we do it now," Khawaja told ESPNCricinfo in an interview.

"And that kept happening over and over and over again. The more that happened, I realised my background does matter and it does make a difference. And then I realised from my childhood it probably took me a while to support Australia. I didn't really support Australia when I first went [from Pakistan] because I didn't really get it.

You know, the guys on the screen didn't really look like me, act like me. They're spraying VB alcohol around everywhere, and it didn't really match up for me growing up as a young Pakistani Australian Muslim in the country," Khawaja said from his hotel room in Abu Dhabi, where he will play for Islamabad United in the remainder of the PSL.

The 34-year-old batsman went on to reveal that he was told many a time while growing up that he would never represent Australia because he was "not the right skin colour".

"When I was younger in Australia, the amount of time I got told I was never going to play for Australia, I'm not the right skin colour was immense. I'd get told I don't fit the team and they wouldn't pick me. That was the mentality but now it's starting to shift.

I push that a lot and try to tell any parents in Australia to give their kids a chance. It might not be an easy road, might not be as easy as other people might experience. You're going to get a few people that don't agree with yourself or what you look like or what you say. But if you keep persevering, it only makes you stronger. And then when you reach the top, it just feels that much better," the top-order batsman further added.

The last time Khawaja played for Australia was back in 2019 during the Ashes in England, which ended in a draw and Australia had retained the Urn.