From being referred to be a curry eater to silence detractors with a tonne of runs, Usman Khawaja’s journey

The Australian batsman with Pakistani ancestry has amassed over 1,000 runs in Test matches over the past year to dispel racial prejudice against him. His tutor refers to Khawaja as a “F***ing curry muncher.”

Usman Khawaja, who was only five years old when his family migrated to Australia, would frequently hear this abuse.

He was chosen last week for the largest community impact award for the social work he does with his Khawaja foundation for minorities, migrants, refugees, and socially disadvantaged children in addition to being chosen as the Australian Test player of the year.

He would describe how he didn’t speak English and how, on his first day of kindergarten, he turned to his mother and said, “What’s she saying?” when a teacher asked him a question. And he expressed his gratitude to Bill Anderson, his mentor, for managing his foundation and aiding with cricket at Sydney Grade.

Khawaja’s journey has not been easy, but he has persevered. In the past year, he has been on a run-deluge and will be one of the important batsmen on the India tour.

A bashful 15-year-old Khawaja, according to his coach Anderson, “would not even look you in the eye.”

He is aware of his origins and history, but he is also distinctly Australian, Anderson told media. “Everything about him – the amount of time he spends playing video games, the social activities he partakes in while not drinking, the fact that he is constantly out with his teammates. what he does with them that is enjoyable. He was raised in Australia, which is a part of the setting in which we all grew up.

First, his studies got in the way; at one point, he gave up playing cricket to concentrate on earning his aviation degree and becoming a licenced pilot. The road, both on and off the field, hasn’t been simple since he returned to cricket in 2008.