Cumminsโ continuing success as captain insulated him from pushback, but Khawaja was not accorded similar protection, and Cricket Australia sometimes stood on him at the same time that they celebrated him.
At Fridayโs retirement press conference, Khawaja said he copped racial stereotyping criticism for five days straight for playing golf before the Perth Test when a back spasm prevented him batting. He felt other players would have been referred to as lads or larrikins.
Khawajaโs overall tally of 6206 Tests runs at 43.39 puts him 15th on the all-time list for Australia. He scored more centuries than Doug Walters, Ian Chappell or Bill Lawry, and played 44 tests between 2011 and 2019, but was dropped frequently. In 2022, he returned to glory when Travis Head was ruled out with COVID-19 and proved one of the worldโs most prolific Test openers.
On Sunday, Khawaja ends his Test career where he debuted in 2011, on the SCG near where his family lived after migrating from Pakistan in 1991.
He is a unique Australian: few other cricketers have played a finer innings on, or off, the field.
