Usman Khawaja ( Urdu : ﻋﺜﻤﺎﻥ ﺧﻮﺍﺟﮧ ; born
18 December 1986) is a Pakistani-born
Australian cricketer. Usman Khawaja has
become the first Muslim to be selected in an
Australian cricket squad and made his test debut (cap 419) against England on 3rd January 2011.
he is He was awarded Player
of the Australian Under-19 Championship in
2005 and also played for Australia in the
2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka
as an opening batsman. His club side is
Randwick Petersham Cricket Club.
Khawaja, who was born in Islamabad but
moved to Australia at the age of four,he was selected in an Australian squad for two test matches series against pakistan which was moved to England.
He said he
was "shocked" at being selected for the two-
Test series, which was moved to England due to
safety concerns in Pakistan due to last year's
extremist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team
bus.
"I was a bit shocked, I had a feeling I was
close but that could mean absolutely nothing,"
he told Cricket Australia's official website.
"The feeling didn't really sink in straight away
but I've told my family and they're really
excited."
Khawaja, who is also a fully-
qualified pilot, was named in a
strong 14-man Australian side,
The 23-year-old made headlines in
2008 when he became the first
cricketer of Pakistani-Australian
background to play first-class
cricket in Australia, making his
debut for New South Wales in an
inter-state match against Victoria.
He is, however, not the first player from the
sub-continent to represent Australia -- Sri
Lanka-born Dav Whatmore played seven Tests
in 1979-80.
National selection panel chairman Andrew
Hilditch said Khawaja's inclusion in the squad
was down to the player's strong performances
at state competition level, which saw him score
698 runs and three centuries last season.
"Usman Khawaja has been selected on the
back of some very strong Sheffield Shield
performances.
