🏏 EXCLUSIVE CHAT | Usman Khawaja's Kids Have Very Specific Holiday Demands

Kip Wightman (0:01)

The Nick, Luttsy & Susie O'Neill Podcast. It's back, baby.

Usman Khawaja (0:07)

Yeah. We're done.

Kip Wightman (0:08)

Woohoo, the BBL returns. It starts in December, and we are joined by the great man Usman Khawaja. Hello, Uzi.

Usman Khawaja (0:16)

Hello, how are you going?

Ash Bradnam (0:17)

Back, good, mate. Back for your fifth season with The Heat?

Usman Khawaja (0:21)

Yes. Yup, fifth, correct.

Ash Bradnam (0:23)

Unbelievable, mate.

David Lutteral (0:24)

It's good you can keep playing at the domestic level. You retired from Test Cricket, I remember, end of last year, was it?

Usman Khawaja (0:29)

Yes, yup. I retired there. How was that?

David Lutteral (0:31)

What did you make that decision in?

Usman Khawaja (0:33)

It was actually, for me, it was quite easy in the end. It was probably harder for my wife, because she was like, are you sure you don't want to go a little bit longer?

She actually, honestly, she, my wife, Rachel, she's a big part of my success. I've always said that. But she pushed me more than anyone to just, there was times where, like two or three years, probably before I retired, I was like, no, maybe I, she's like, you just won the best player in the world. Why would you retire now? And I was like, okay, I'll keep going. So she was always on my case. But no, I think both of us, by the end of it, we were truly well drained mentally, physically.

Kip Wightman (1:07)

You were such a fascinating, because you were in it, then you were sort of out of it, then you were back in it. And I loved watching you, speaking test cricket, On The Test, the show that was on Stan Sports and stuff like that, following the Aussie cricket team.

You're a real leader and sort of really outspoken amongst the team. It was such a good insight into how much pressure there is in test cricket.

Usman Khawaja (1:25)

So much. I got dropped eight times. I'm not sure if there's a batsman being dropped eight times. I haven't been proven otherwise that there's ever been a batsman dropped in test history more than me.

Bowlers coming in and out of the game, but as a batsman, yeah. But I mean, as I got older, I got more comfortable in my own skin. I tried so hard to really fit in when I was young. And I fit in Australian culture, because I was brown Muslim boy named Usman Khawaja, not a generic name, right? So I stood out and it was a very different culture too. It was a big drinking culture. And I was trying to fit in so much. And then when I moved up to Queensland, which is in my opinion, the best thing I did in my, best move I made in my whole life. I love it here in Queensland. I'm Queenslander, but when I came here, I changed everything. I was like, I'm going to be myself. I'm going to do things my way. I'm going to be true to myself. So then that's where it all started. And by the time I came in right at the very end, those last five years, I was like, I don't even think I should be here. I should have been dropped and never been back on the team. So I'm going to show the people the real Luttsy and I'm going to do stuff that's more than just cricket. And so that's why I was a bit more, you know, even with my teammates, they kind of knew where I stood because I'm always really open and honest with people. Like I'm respectful, but I'll have any conversation that I need to, I'll never go behind the scenes and do it. So I think when people saw that in the test documentary, that's what they saw.

Ash Bradnam (2:39)

And you're not like, you got a lot of moving parts to the Khawaja story. Correct me if I'm wrong, in my brain, I've got the Khawaja Foundation. Is that what it's called?

Usman Khawaja (2:49)

Usman Khawaja Foundation.

Ash Bradnam (2:50)

Yeah, I've been to a couple of the functions where you're doing stuff out. I mean, my point is, even when you retire from Test Quick, I'm thinking this guy's still got four or five things happening as your career or life progresses. So the foundation is doing stuff still.

Usman Khawaja (3:04)

The foundation, yeah, it makes it a little bit easier. I can spend a bit more time on it, hopefully. I mean, my last four months have been the busiest of my life, which is weird, right? So I finished playing cricket and my wife thought I was going to be playing all this golf when I finish. I haven't played golf for like six weeks, really.