Australian opener Usman Khawaja talked about the difficulties he faced in his cricketing journey and why there are so few non-white Aussie players who make it to the international stage. In 2011, Khawaja, who is of Pakistani descent, became the first Muslim cricketer to represent the Australian team in international cricket.
Khawaja, who is a teetotaler, revealed that he used to ponder if not being a part of the “party and alcohol culture” prevented him from developing deeper bonds with his teammates.
“There were times when I was tempted, guys would be like ‘come on, have a drink, have a drink,” said Khawaja while speaking to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Khawaja also said that at one stage in his life, he wasn’t comfortable with his own skin color and wished to be “white” in order to pursue a cricket career in Australia.
“I wanted to be Aussie growing up, I didn’t like the fact I had brown skin. I kind of wanted to have white skin and be like everyone else and have that surfie look and put blond in my hair because I thought that was cool and everyone else was doing it,” he said.
“Look I just stopped giving a crap” – Usman Khawaja
Usman said that after a point, he stopped caring about being a part of certain groups and started listening to his own authentic self. “Look I just stopped giving a crap, that’s the honest truth. I came back into the Aussie team and everyone was like ‘what are you doing, what are you wearing’ and I went ‘what, this is me”, said Khawaja.
“I was being myself and I’m really proud when I see other cricketers come into the game and be themselves, doing their own thing, showing their personalities.”, added Khawaja.
Khawaja is now committed to making a difference in society so that no cricketer is denied the opportunity to play for Australia because of his skin colour.
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