Usman Khawaja has hit out at racial stereotypes in Australian cricket, claiming he was a victim of it as recently as this summer.
In a powerful 50-minute press conference at the SCG while announcing his international retirement, Australia's Test star declared he wanted to make life easier for "the next Usman Khawaja".
The only Pakistani-born player and Muslim to play Tests for Australia, Khawaja confirmed next week's fifth Ashes Test at the SCG would be his last in the Baggy Green.
He will retire with 88 Tests to his name, having already risen to be Australia's 15th greatest run-scorer in history with 6,206.
But Khawaja also used Friday's announcement as a chance to highlight issues that still exist within the game, beginning with coverage of his back spasms this year.
The 39-year-old was heavily criticised in some quarters for playing golf in the lead up to the Perth Test, before the spasms forced him from the field and then ruled him out of Brisbane.
"I could have copped it for two days, but I copped it for five days straight," Khawaja said.
"It wasn’t even about my performances, it was about something very personal. It was about my preparation.
"The way that everyone came at me about my preparation was quite personal in terms of 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’s lazy’.
"These are the same racial stereotypes that I’ve grown up with my whole life."
Khawaja said the comments from former players and those in the media were at odds with the way other injuries were spoken about.
"I thought we were past that, but there’s still a little out there which I have to fight every single day," he said.
"I can give you countless number of guys who have played golf the day before a match and have been injured, but you guys haven’t said a thing.
"I can give you even more examples of guys who have had 15 schooners the night before a game and have then been injured, but no one said a word because they were just being Aussie larrikins, they were just being lads.
"But when I get injured, everyone went at my credibility and who I am as a person.
"Rather than normally when someone gets injured, you feel a little bit sorry for them and a little bit of remorse - ‘poor Josh Hazlewood’ or ‘poor Nathan Lyon’ for getting injured. We feel sorry for them, we don’t attack them."
Khawaja believed part of that commentary came down to the fact he had been outspoken on political issues in recent years, and the most notably the plight of Palestinians.
"I kind of know why I get nailed a lot of the time, particularly over the last two years," he said.
"I understand that I’ve talked about certain issues outside cricket which leaves me exposed and a lot of people don’t like that.
"I still find it hard when I say that everyone deserves freedom and that Palestinians deserve freedom and equal rights, and why that’s a big issue.
"But I get it because I put myself out there.
"Even when we get to Australian politics and we get all these right-wing politicians that are anti-Immigration and (fuel) Islamophobia and I speak up against them, I know that people don’t love that.
"But I feel like I have to because where these guys are trying to divide and create hate and trying to create animosity in the Australian community, I’m doing the exact opposite."
Khawaja's family joined him in the room for Friday's press conference, after he also shed tears while telling teammates of his exit moments earlier.
The call to walk away means the Sydney Test will also turn into something of a farewell party for the 39-year-old, with the series decided and Australia 3-1 up.
Khawaja's Sydney exit is fitting, given so much of his career has been based around the city he moved to as a five-year-old from Islamabad.
He made his debut at the SCG in 2011 against England, scoring a stylish 37 that offered Australian fans hope at the end of the worst home summer this century.
And it was at the SCG where he revived his career as a 35-year-old, scoring twin centuries against England when Travis Head missed a Test in 2022 through COVID.
That Test prompted one of the great late-career revivals, hitting seven centuries in his first two years back in the side.
Khawaja's spot in the side had come under greater scrutiny this summer, before he decided in Adelaide last month this series would likely be his last.
USMAN KHAWAJA'S TEST CAREER:
Tests: 87
Runs: 6206
Average: 43.39
Centuries: 16
Half-centuries: 28
