Usman Khawaja's most controversial cricketing moments

Usman Khawaja in his retirement press conference at SCG (Source: AFP) 

The fifth Test of the ongoing Ashes 2025-26 between Australia and England is going to be the last international appearance of Usman Khawaja. The 39-year-old announced his international retirement while interacting with the media during a presser at the Sydney Cricket Ground ahead of the Ashes finale. 

Meanwhile, the current Ashes 2025-26 series has been marked by several controversial events involving Khawaja. The southpaw also took his chance to ignite a few controversies during the retirement presser. 

Given that, here’s a look at some significant controversies that took the centre stage on various occasions throughout Khawaja’s international career.

The dispute with ICC on Black armband and Equipment message 

Pakistan were on the tour of Australia for the three-match Test series. The first Test was scheduled to be played in Perth, where Khawaja headlined for his unexpected antics during the Test series opener, including ‘shoes with slogans’ followed by a black armband. 

Khawaja wore the black armband in the aftermath of being barred from wearing shoes that displayed the slogans “All lives are equal” and “Freedom equals human right” to extend his solidarity with Palestine in the Israel-Palestine conflict. 

Initially, ICC barred Khawaja from wearing those shoes under their equipment regulations. Furthermore, the apex governing body rebuked the Aussie opener for showing up with black armbands without any approval. 

ICC fell at the receiving end of criticism during Khawaja fiasco

ICC’s decision on Khawaja’s armband and shoes had also ignited a new debate in the sports fraternity. The ICC faced sheer backlash for imposing rules and restricting players' rights to express themselves on humanitarian grounds. 

“What was on the shoes, all lives are equal, I support that. That's not very divisive. I don't think anyone can really have too many complaints about that,” said the Aussie skipper Pat Cummins, backing his teammate for wearing ‘all lives are equal’ shoes. 

Apart from Cummins, former West Indies pacer Michael Holding also slammed cricket’s apex governing body, calling it ‘hypocrisy and lack of moral standing’. 

“I have been following the Khawaja fiasco and I cannot say I’m surprised by the ICC’s stance. If it had been most other organisations that showed some semblance of consistency with their attitude and behaviour on issues I could claim surprise, but not them,” said Holding to The Weekend Australian. 

“Once again, they show their hypocrisy and lack of moral standing as an organisation,” he added later. 

Called Perth Pitch a ‘piece of shit’ after first Test in Ashes 2025-26

After the first Ashes Test in Perth ended in two days, Usman Khawaja couldn’t hide his emotions and slammed the Perth surface for uneven bounce when the game ended in just two days. 

“Nineteen wickets on the first day and about 20 people got hit. That's a great wicket, that seems real fair. The same thing happened last year in the India Test. It's just that day-one wicket, the ball just does not react,” said Khawaja at the luncheon. 

“Steve Smith's by far the best cricketer I've ever played with and he's missing the middle of his bat by a long way. He does not miss the middle of his bat, (yet) he's getting hit in the elbow. So day-one wicket at Perth is a piece of shit, I'm happy to say that. Has been last year, it was this year,” he added later in his hard-lined remarks about the Perth pitch. 

Notably, the 39-year-old opener came up with this statement after ICC rated Perth ‘very good’ despite it producing a two-day Test match. 

Cricket Australia asked Khawaja to explain his remarks

Furthermore, Khawaja’s controversial comments prompted Cricket Australia to take immediate notice and ask the batter to explain. CA’s Chief of Cricket, James Allsopp, came up with the board's official stance on the Perth surface, followed by praising it. 

“ICC’s rating had justified the head office’s view that the pitch provided a fair balance between bat and ball,” said Allsop in an official statement. Besides that, the board reportedly was disappointed by Khawaja’s remarks about the pitch and spoke up with him before the second Ashes Test at the Gabba in Brisbane. 

Refused Post-match interview with SEN 

Almost six to seven months ago, in June 2025, Usman Khawaja sparked another controversy after refusing to do a post-match interview with Australia-based cricket broadcaster SEN. It happened after the first Test between West Indies and Australia concluded in Barbados. 

Khawaja did this as a protest against SEN’s decision to fire journalist Peter Lalor, on the grounds of his pro-Palestinian remarks in the social media posts he shared. It was the initiation point of another controversy, as such post-match interviews are considered routine. 

Khawaja's walking out of the interview was taken as his principal stand. But the controversy found its roots in his practice of blending his off-the-field socio-political commentary with his cricketing profile. 

Claims of Racial stereotyping in retirement presser 

During the Ashes 2025-26 build-up in November last year, Khawaja was spotted playing golf for a couple of days before the series kicked off with the first Test in Perth. It drew criticism from the Australian media, alongside a few former cricketers. 

The criticism came in the aftermath of Khawaja’s absence from the Test series opener in Perth owing to back spasms. 

Meanwhile, Khawaja took his retirement press conference as a chance to hit back at the criticism he received from the media at the start of the Ashes series. Khawaja. The Pakistan-born Aussie cricketer felt that the media scrutiny he was at the receiving end of was nothing more than a chance of racial attack. 

"Don't gaslight me..." - The opener's media confrontation in retirement presser

“I've always felt a little bit different, even now. I'm a coloured cricketer. The Australian cricket team is, in my opinion ... that's our best team. It's our pride and joy. But I've also felt very different in a lot of respects, different by the way I've been treated, different for how things have happened,” said Khawaja to the journalists who were present there in the SCG press room. 

“You guys had a crack at me for missing a game, yet plenty of my team-mates, who were not playing, didn't say a word to them. So for me, I've been dealing with this stuff a long time. And for me, I know I'm up here talking about topics and people are like, okay, Uzzy's here, he's playing the race card again, but don't gaslight me,” he added later. 

These remarks from the veteran opener after a 15-year-long international career have set the stage for another controversy. Khawajs’s comments are expected to draw a few reactions either from the media, the former cricketers or his teammates he has played with.