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Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja reflected on his parents' struggle, crediting them for the sacrifices they made in the left-hand batter's early years of his cricketing journey.
Khawaja, 39, announced his Test retirement on Friday, with the ongoing Sydney Ashes Test being his last match. Khawaja has played 88 Tests (Sydney Test included) and has scored 6206 runs, with most of those runs coming from the top of the order. Born in Pakistan, Khawaja moved with his family to Australia when he was a young boy and in the 2011 Sydney Ashes Test, he became the first Muslim to play for Australia. Ahead of his final Test match, Khawaja spoke to Fox Cricket about his parents', Tariq and Fozia, sacrifices and their contribution to his cricket. Khawaja said his parents sacrificed a comfortable life in Pakistan, including financial security, by moving to Australia solely to give their children better opportunities and a better future. "He uprooted our whole lives to come to Australia. We had decent lives in Pakistan. We had a decent, big house, Mum had a leisurely life over there and he left all of that just to give us a better lifestyle over here." Khawaja said, as quoted by Fox Cricket. "I remember when Mum being quite upset when moving to Australia and I never understood it when I was young, but now I get it. Her whole life got turned upside down," Khawaja added. Khawaja reflected that his family faced early hardships after moving to Australia, but in hindsight, he is deeply thankful for his parents' sacrifices, which helped him earn the chance to play 88 Tests for his country and become one of Australia's most accomplished batters -- a journey he says he would not change for anything. "We struggled with coming to Australia at the start. The currency change was hard. Dad couldn't find a new job, he didn't have a job when he came here so looking back on the sacrifices he made for us kids," Khawaja said. Khawaja described his career as a surreal, long and challenging journey, saying that while it had its ups and downs, playing 88 Tests over 15 years was beyond his expectations and something he would not change for anything. "It has been a ride. Even playing one Test was amazing but to do it for 15 odd years and 88 matches, it's quite surreal. My journey has been up and down. It's taken me quite a while to get those 88 matches but I wouldn't change it for the world," Khawaja said. (ANI)
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