‘My ethnicity made them call me lazy’

Khawaja says racism far from being over in Australian cricket

BY GAUTAM BHATTACHARYYA

Senior Associate Editor

The last has not been heard about racism in cricket as Usman Khawaja, the graceful left-hander from Australia, hit out at a perception of him being ‘lazy’ because of his ethnicity.

“I always had that ‘lazy’ undertone when I was growing up and I think part of that was my relaxed nature but part of it was also because I was Pakistani, and sub-continent people were seen as lazy, not doing the hard yards and whatnot,” Khawaja was quoted in cricket.com.au.

A top order batsman in the Australian team who is admired for an easy grace into his batting, said in the interview: “Running has never been natural to me, so when we used to do lots of fitness testing I wasn’t as good as everyone else. When you put that against where I was from, that did play against me. I still hear [similar stereotypes], if someone’s a bit different.’’

Khawaja, who has 10 international centuries under his belt, is set to join Cricket Australia (CA) working group tasked with creating an action plan focusing on inclusion and greater cultural diversity within Australian cricket.