Australia Test veteran Usman Khawaja has found himself embroiled in a bit of controversy, following his decision to visit the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday, March 16. Khawaja had reportedly suffered a hamstring injury, leading him to miss a match for Queensland over the weekend. However, upon his visit to the Australian GP, Queensland Head of Cricket Joe Dawes had accused him of not playing on purpose. Now, the 38-year-old opener has responded angrily to the accusations made by Dawes.
“Our medical staff said all the way through he has been available for selection. That is my understanding from Cricket Australia staff as well. No hamstring issues as far as we are concerned,” Dawes had said, after Khawaja missed Queensland’s Sheffield Shield encounter against South Australia.
“It’s just disappointing he didn’t play a game for Queensland when he had an opportunity to. I have got a bunch of blokes here that all want to play,” Dawes had said further.
Khawaja has now expressed his disappointment at the allegations made by Dawes, and firmly denied any truth to those statements.
“Joe Dawes came out the other day and said a few inflammatory things, which was really disappointing to me as a player. After that I felt like I had to speak up and say something and give my side of the story. Joe said the medical staff had no idea (about the hamstring injury). That is 100 per cent wrong,” Khawaja said, speaking to reporters.
“That was probably one of the most shocking things I’ve heard said, which was really disappointing, because it’s categorically untrue. I just wanted to clear that up,” Khawaja added.
Khawaja is not the only Australian cricketer to find himself in the controversy, with legendary spinner Nathan Lyon also being questioned for attending the Australian Grand Prix instead of playing in the Sheffield Shield.
Khawaja has amassed nearly 6,000 runs for Australia in Test cricket, having played 80 games for them till date.
The 38-year-old also clarified that he wanted to keep this matter behind closed doors, but that could not be possible due to Dawes’ statements.
“For me, the most disappointing thing was I tried to keep this as in house as possible, behind the scenes. It’s obviously not anymore,” Khawaja said.
Both Khawaja and Lyon are expected to be part of Australia’s playing XI when they take on South Africa in the World Test Championship (WTC) final on June 11 at Lord’s.
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