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'Arey baap re, ye to dhoti khol rha hai'- Fans shocked as Usman Khawaja accuses Cricket Australia of racism

Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja claimed ‘nothing’s changed’ from the challenges he faced at the beginning of his career.

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Rohit Kumar
Jan 13, 2023 10:12 IST
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Usman Khawaja (Source - Twitter)

Usman Khawaja (Source - Twitter)

Usman Khawaja believes Australian Cricket have a lot of work to do to change the attitude towards non-white players at all levels. He accused Cricket Australia of being biased in their selections. The left-hander is the only South Asian-born player in the history of Australian cricket to represent the country in Tests.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Khawaja, who became the first South Asian-born player to play Test cricket for Australia, claimed ‘nothing’s changed’ from the challenges he faced at the beginning of his career.

“That’s where I’m trying to work with Cricket Australia saying, ‘Look, guys … you invest a lot of money into this, but something’s not going right. You’ve been doing it for 10 years and nothing’s changed,” Khawaja said in the interview.

The white coach is going to pick the white cricketer: Usman Khawaja

Khawaja is the only Muslim player to ever get selected to play for the Australian team. More than 98 percent of the country’s 464 Test cricketers have been white. Khawaja was born in Pakistan and moved to Sydney when he was 4 years old. Khawaja has played in 56 tests, 40 ODIs, and 9 T20Is in his career for Australia. He made his international debut way back in 2011 in Sydney at number three in an Ashes Test match as a replacement for injured Ricky Ponting.

The 36-year-old believes that the overwhelming majority comes back to bias, unconscious or, otherwise, from the likewise predominantly white coaching and administrative set-up of Australian cricket. When asked about where might the root of the problem be, Khawaja responded by saying.

“If you have two cricketers, one brown, one white, both the same, the white coach is going to pick the white cricketer just because he has a son that might look similar to him, It’s what’s familiar to him.” He said.

On Christmas day, last year, Khawaja took to Twitter about the incident he experienced and wrote,

“I got stopped 3 times last year at our hotel, while in Australian kit and asked if I was with the Australian Cricket tea.”

Here's how fans reacted:

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