Far-left Pakistan-born Muslim cricketer Usman Khawaja has spent more than $9 million building up a portfolio of Queensland properties while playing for the Australian team.
Khawaja announced his retirement on Friday with a 50-minute press conference where he complained about being the alleged victim of racism, accused selectors and critics of racial discrimination, and defended his controversial left-wing activism.
His comments sparked backlash from everyday Australians, with many pointing out that Khawaja was allowed to come to Australia and represent the country at the highest level while his teammates accommodated his strict religious beliefs and he earned millions of dollars.
“We are so racist we picked him in our national team, hid sponsors, and stopped spraying champagne all so he could be included,” read one popular post.
“What exactly did Australia deny him? He is a son of parents who immigrated from the hell hole called Pakistan, which is a living nightmare for minorities. He dreamed big in his new land, the continent reciprocated back, he represented one of the greatest cricketing teams in World Cricket,” read another.
We are so racist we picked him in our national team, hid sponsors, and stopped spraying champagne all so he could be included https://t.co/qHXLxFxpvj
— Old Soldier (@OMGTheMess) January 2, 2026
Others pointed to his purchase of a lavish $3.85 million Gold Coast beach house on an exclusive street dubbed Multimillionaires Row in the upmarket suburb of Mermaid Beach in the lead-up to the Ashes series in December.
Khawaja and his wife Rachel also own a large property in the outer Brisbane suburb of Belmont which they bought for $3.45 million in 2021, and a $1.825 million beachfront apartment on the Sunshine Coast, realestate.com.au reported.
Weeks after buying the four-bedroom Gold Coast home, Khawaja came under fire for playing golf ahead of the first Ashes Test and succumbing to back problems.
During his lengthy retirement rant he blamed “racism” for the scrutiny over his performance and management of his back issues, and said he’d “never seen anyone treated like that in the Australian team before”.
“The way the media and past players came out and attacked me, I could have copped it for two days, but I copped it for about five days straight. And it wasn’t even about my performances. It was about something very personal, it was about my preparation,” he said.
“Things like, ‘He’s not committed to the team, he was only worried about himself, he played this golf comp the day before, he’s selfish, he doesn’t train hard enough, he didn’t train the day before the game, he’s lazy’.
“These are the same racial stereotypes I’ve grown up with my whole life … we obviously haven’t fully moved past them.
He also complained that despite trying hard to fit in after being selected, he “kept getting dropped from the Australian cricket team”.
“I get it. My name isn’t John Smith. When the 50-50 calls happen, they’re just not going my way,” he said, echoing comments he made in the past that he “didn’t fit the mould” because the team was “very White”, and saying “in the future the Australian team will be represented by a lot of different nationalities”.
He then justified his political activism by claiming he was “trying to bring everyone together”, and lashed out at “right-wing politicians who are anti-immigration”.
“I’m trying to bring inclusivity into Australia. I’m trying to say I’m the Australian Muslim from Pakistan, and I’m the Australian cricketer right in front of you, who loves playing cricket, loves going out and doing everything that you do. And if you talk about integrating into the country, I’ve got a White wife over there who I love and cherish, and I’ve got half Australian half Pakistani kids, and so that is very frustrating to me at times.
“I know what people say about me, ‘Stay in your spot, don’t speak about topics that you don’t know, you’re just a cricketer, do your thing’.
“But how do you think it makes me feel when people talk about immigration or they start attacking Islam or Muslims for everything that’s going on? I’m an immigrant to Australia. I came here at the age of five. It’s personal, it is.
“I know [people will be saying] I’m up here, he’s playing the race card again, but don’t gaslight me.”
Last year Khawaja wrote the introduction to a far-left “islamophobia” report written by the Labor government’s Special Envoy on Combating Islamophobia, in which he claimed Jesus was a “person of colour” and called 9/11 a “tragedy” without mentioning Islamic terrorism.
Header image: Left, Usman Khawaja’s beach house (REA). Right, Khawaja and his
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