Usman Khawaja mistaken for a Pakistani by a Queensland official
In an amusing incident at the Gabba earlier today, Australian batting sensation Usman Khawaja was mistaken for a Pakistani by one of the Queensland’s officials before he went out to face the media ahead of the first Test against Pakistan.
“So I was waiting downstairs looking to access the dressing room and this Queensland Cricket lady came down and asked me, ‘Oh you need the locker rooms opened?’ and I said, ‘Yes please’”.
“And she started walking to the Pakistani change rooms and I was like ‘oh man. No, I’m that way, thank you’”, he laughed, recalling the incident.
Back in 2011, Khawaja became the first Muslim to wear the baggy green for the Australian cricket team. Since then, he has played an integral role in the success of the team over the years and has featured in 20 Tests for the Kangaroos amassing 1459 runs at an average of 45.59.
He has five centuries and an equal number of half-centuries to his name with his high score of 174 coming against New Zealand last year.
He was born in Islamabad in Pakistan in the year 1986 and his family moved to Sydney when he was five years old. On being asked about how he felt about facing Pakistan for the first time in his career, Khawaja said the match would be really important for his parents.
"They grew up in Pakistan and were there for a long time," Khawaja said. "Obviously I was born there, so it's a very close part of me. It still is a very big part of me... culture is very important, as is religion. My parents are Australian but they're also very Pakistani.
"If I broke it down, the way I act and what I do is very Australian, but there are always parts of me [that are Pakistani] - when I talk to my parents I still at times try to speak Urdu here and there. It's not as good as theirs but they can understand what's going on. It is a big part of my life when I'm with my parents or around my parents, but other than that it's usually quite normal.
"My parents are truly Australian now. They don't support Pakistan at all. They haven't for a long time. They were there for 30 years but now they just want me to do well and want Australia to win every single time no matter who we're playing. There is no allegiance conflict at all, " he continued
Khawaja has been in supreme form this season and has scored 314 runs at an average of 52.33 for the Australian cricket team this year. He was dropped for the series against Sri Lanka and will be itching to make a comeback into the batting line-up against Pakistan.
The Kangaroos had gone through a recent slump after losing the Test series against Sri Lanka earlier this year and then losing to rivals South Africa in the Test and ODI series. They came back strong in the ODI series against neighbours New Zealand by inflicting a whitewash on them.
With the first Test set to begin on December 15th at Brisbane, Australia will be looking to carry on their impressive ODI form into the Test series as well.