Usman Khawaja recalls the distressing day his mother was targeted at the Boxing Day Test

Usman Khawaja says a moment during the 2024 Boxing Day Test against India remains painful for his family, even as the match is remembered for Sam Konstas’s explosive debut innings. In an excerpt from his account, Khawaja describes how his mother was harassed while walking through the members’ area with his brother. According to Khawaja, two teenagers approached from behind and shouted into his mother’s ears because she was wearing a hijab. His brother initially did not notice she had stopped, but then found her frozen and visibly shocked, with the boys still nearby. A security guard who said he had witnessed the incident intervened and brought the teenagers to a holding room. Khawaja says his brother identified their mother as the cricketer’s mum, prompting an apparent change in the boys’ demeanour. He reflects that the episode showed how people can make assumptions about someone wearing a hijab, treating them as an outsider rather than as Australian. The security guard asked Khawaja’s mother whether she wanted to press charges. Khawaja says she declined, explaining that she did not want to ruin the young people’s lives over what she considered one incident. He describes her response as an example of the compassion that has supported him throughout his life and cricket career. Khawaja writes that his mother’s encouragement helped him withstand the setbacks that came with the sport. He says he will always regard her as a uniquely important person in his life, and readily embraces the label of a “mummy’s boy.”