Who is Usman Khawaja?
Usman Khawaja (born 18 December 1986) is an Australian cricketer who represents Australia and Queensland. Khawaja made his first-class cricket debut for New South Wales in 2008 and played his first international match for Australia in January 2011.
Khawaja was born in Pakistan and emigrated to Australia with his family at the age of five. He has played county cricket in the United Kingdom and briefly played in both the Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League.
Usman Khawaja misses hundred for Australia as Pakistan Test hit by rain
Australian opener Usman Khawaja missed out on a century in the country of his birth by three runs Sunday as his side made a strong response to Pakistan on the third day of the first Test in Rawalpindi.
Bad light stopped play and then rain poured down with Australia on 271-2, trailing Pakistan by 205 runs with eight wickets remaining after the home side declared Saturday at 476-4.
Marnus Labuschagne was on 69 and Steve Smith 24. With rain forecast for the last two days a result is unlikely. The second Test in in Karachi from March 12-16, and the third in Lahore from March 21-25.
It could have been a memorable day for Khawaja had he completed his 11th Test century in Pakistan, where he was born in 1986 before his parents emigrated to Australia.
The left hander was caught at forward short leg by Imam-ul-Haq for 97 as he gloved a reverse sweep off left-arm spinner Nauman Ali.
Umpire Aleem Dar ruled him not out, but Pakistan were given the wicket on review.
Labuschagne, the current number-one batter in Test rankings, continued where Khawaja and Warner had left off, stroking nine exquisite boundaries.
He and Smith have added 68 for third wicket and defied Pakistan’s spin duo of Sajid and Nauman, who took a wicket each in the post-lunch session.
Khawaja’s 219-minute knock included 15 boundaries, and he put on 156 for the opening wicket with David Warner, who made an attractive 68.
Warner fell in the eighth over after lunch when he missed a square drive and was bowled by off-spinner Sajid Khan.
Earlier, Khawaja and Warner scored at more than four an over in the morning session, a contrast to the Pakistan first innings which lasted two days and 162 overs.
Pakistan’s seam bowling duo and their three slow bowlers found the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium pitch as unresponsive as the tourists did on the first two days when only four wickets fell, with little spin and no reverse swing.
But Pakistan only had themselves to blame for not making a crucial breakthrough as Khawaja was dropped twice in a clumsy fielding display by the hosts.
Fawad Alam spilled a straightforward chance at gully off a miscued cut when Khawaja was on 22, much to the disappointment of bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Khawaja took full advantage of the reprieve, hitting three successive boundaries before reaching his 15th Test half-century off just 67 balls.
He was also let off by wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan when on 62, he gloved a chance while trying to reverse-sweep a Nauman delivery.
Australia is on their first tour to Pakistan since 1998, having previously refused to tour the country over security fears.
Usman Khawaja Biography, Wiki
Usman Tariq Khawaja was born on December 18, 1986, in Islamabad, Pakistan, to Tariq Khawaja and Fozia Tariq. He was the third child in the family and grew up with his two older brothers, Arsalan and Nauman. The family moved to New South Wales in Australia when Usman was 5 years old.
The family settled in a small apartment on Cook Road, Centennial Park. Usman and his brothers started playing cricket in a park near their house. However, Usman faced a few difficulties while playing, as he was too young to play with the older boys in his group.
He also did not know English when he arrived in Australia. That, too, created a lot of difficulties for Usman, as he was not able to mingle with the other kids and play street cricket with them.As a kid, Usman watched a lot of international matches at the ‘Sydney Cricket Ground,’ which was located a few minutes away from his house.
The family lived amidst difficult conditions in their early years in Australia. They shifted to a bigger house in Erksine Park, near Penrith, when his father got a steady job as an IT architect. Usman faced a lot of racial discrimination when he was in school.
Despite everything, he was academically good. Following his graduation from the ‘Westfields Sports High School,’ Usman enrolled at the ‘University of New South Wales’ and earned a degree in aviation. He earned his license as a pilot even before he got his driver’s license.
However, his real forte lay in cricket. He had already started his domestic cricket career before he graduated from college.
Usman Khawaja Career
Khawaja made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka cricket team on 11 January 2013. His lacklustre performance in the initial matches saw him getting dropped from the team. Khawaja showed his class in the limited-overs tour of India in 2019 and also performed well against Pakistan in the following series.
This helped him in securing a call for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, but he picked up a hamstring injury in one of the group-stage matches and was ruled out of the tournament.
Khawaja made his Test debut in the fifth match of the 2010-11 Ashes series. With this, he became the first Muslim and the first Pakistani-born Australian player to play Test cricket for Australia.
In 2013, he was suspended along with some other teammates following a breach of discipline. He returned to Test cricket in the 2013 Ashes series. In 2015, he scored his maiden Test century against New Zealand.
The same year, he became the first-ever batsman to score a century in an innings of a Day-Night Test match at home soil. In 2019, he was selected for the Ashes series in England. He failed to score even a half-century in the first three matches and was dropped for the fourth Ashes Test.
Khawaja made his Twenty20 International debut for Australia against India on 31 January 2016. He was selected for the 2016 T20 Cricket World Cup and scored his first and only T20I half-century against Bangladesh. After that, he failed to impress in the shortest format of the game and hasn’t played in any T20I since September 2016.
Usman Khawaja played, for now, defunct Rising Pune Supergiant in 2016 and 2017 IPL season.
Usman Khawaja FAQ’s
Who is Usman Khawaja?
Usman Tariq Khawaja (born 18 December 1986) is an Australian cricketer who represents Australia and Queensland. Khawaja made his first-class cricket debut for New South Wales in 2008 and played his first international match for Australia in January 2011.
How old is Usman Khawaja?
Usman Khawaja is currently 35 years old.
Is Usman Khawaja married?
Yes, Usman Khawaja is married. His wife’s name is Rachel McLellan.
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