AUS vs ENG: Usman Khawaja set to retire after final Ashes test

Australian veteran batter Usman Khawaja announced that the upcoming Sydney test match against England will be the last match of his international career. For the last few days, the news of Khawaja's retirement was continuously in discussion, and now this news has been officially confirmed. The Sydney test of the ongoing Ashes 2025/26 will commence on January 04.

The Australian team has already won the series and is currently leading by 3-1. The upcoming test will be Khwaja’s 88th test and final international match, which will be played at Sydney Cricket Ground, the same venue where he started his first-class career. On January 02, he informed about his retirement to his team fellows.

"I lived just up the road from the SCG, on Cook Road, to be exact," Khawaja said in an emotional retirement speech. "And I'll never forget when I was younger, I saw Michael Slater drive in his red Ferrari. I couldn't believe my luck, I just saw a Test cricketer. And as a boy whose parents were barely scraping through and trying to provide for their kids in a little two-bedroom apartment, I thought, 'One day I'm going to be a Test cricketer, and one day I can drive whatever I want'.

"Never did I think that God would grant me such a wish.

"I'm here to announce today that I'll be retiring from all international cricket after the SCG Test match."

Usman Khawaja international stats

Usman Khawaja made his test debut against England in 2011. He was added to the playing XI when former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting missed that match due to injury. Following this, he slowly became one of the core batters of the Australian batting line-up. At the same time, he also made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in 2013 and T20I debut against India in 2016. 

He scored 6206 runs in 87 tests, including 16 centuries and 28 half-centuries at an average of 48.86. In 40 ODIs, he amassed 1554 runs, including 2 centuries and 12 fifties. While he played only 9 T20Is, scoring 241 runs, including a fifty. 

As an interesting fact, he was the first Pakistani and muslim test cricketer to play for Australia. Khawaja was born on December 18, 1986, in Rawalpindi, Islamabad. In his press conference, he said;

"I'm a proud Muslim, coloured boy from Pakistan who was told he would never play for the Australian cricket team. Look at me now," Khawaja said.

"I hope I repaid your sacrifice in leaving everything behind in Pakistan to come to Australia to give us kids a better life," he said while addressing his parents in his speech.

"Eighty-eight Test matches, Dad, is that enough? Okay

"As I walk off for the last time, I do so with gratitude and peace, or as we say, salaam, grateful for the journey, the people, the lessons. Thank you for letting me live my dream and for sharing it with me," Khawaja said.

So far in the ongoing Ashes 2025/26, he hasn’t performed well. In 3 matches, he scored only 153 runs. His highest cricket score came at the Adelaide Oval, when he played an 82-run innings. In his last test, he aimed to deliver a memorable innings and end his career with a victory over Australia’s arch-rivals.