Khawaja minced no words as he hit out at the way the back injury he suffered in the series opener was reported and received. It is worth mentioning that the opening batter suffered a back spasm midway through the Test, which prevented him from opening the batting in the second innings, paving the way for Travis Head to eventually take the role.

Several former cricketers then criticised Khawaja for letting his team down, and the topic of his playing golf on the eve of the game was also raised. The batter ended up missing the next Test at Brisbane; however, he made his way into the playing for the third match, but it was all because of Steve Smith’s last-minute injury.

“When I did my back, I had back spasms, it was something I couldn’t control. The way the media and the past players came out and attacked me. I copped it for about five days straight. Everyone was piling in. Once the racial stereotypes came in, of me being lazy, it was things I’ve dealt with my whole life. Pakistani, West Indian, and coloured players. We’re selfish, we only care about ourselves, we don’t care about the team, we don’t train hard enough,” Khawaja told reporters.

“I just thought the media and old players and everyone else had moved past them, but we obviously haven’t moved past them. All these things came back and made me realise we’re not quite there. I can give you a countless number of guys who have played golf the day before and been injured, and you guys (media) haven’t said a thing. I can give you even more guys who have had 15 schooners (beer) the night before, then got injured, and no one’s said a word. That’s alright, they’re just being Aussie larrikins, just being lads,” he added.

‘Went at my credibility’

Khawaja made his mind clear, saying he wasn’t pleased with how his credibility was questioned following the injury he picked up during the Perth Test. The batter who has scored over 6,000 Test runs in 87 appearances with 16 centuries for Australia also stated that he hopes to smooth the path for others to follow in his footsteps.

“When I get injured, everyone went at my credibility and who I am as a person. Normally when someone gets injured, you feel sorry for them as a person. ‘Poor Josh Hazlewood’ or ‘poor Nathan Lyon’. We feel sorry for them and we don’t attack what happened to them,” said Khawaja.

“I know I’m here talking about topics and people will say, ‘Uzzie’s here, he’s playing the race card again’. I know people are trying to nail me. But don’t gaslight me. Where we are at today, Islamophobia is still very rife. I speak about it. I didn’t want to talk about this, but I just want the journey for the next Usman Khawaja to be different,” he added.