{"id":136657,"date":"2025-09-12T02:36:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T02:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/136657\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T02:36:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T02:36:12","slug":"cricket-star-usman-khawaja-lands-a-very-high-profile-tv-job-to-set-himself-up-for-life-after-retirement-and-opens-up-about-going-into-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/136657\/","title":{"rendered":"Cricket star Usman Khawaja lands a VERY high-profile TV job to set himself up for life after retirement – and opens up about going into politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently met with\u00a0Prime Minister Anthony Albanese\u00a0<\/p>\n

By ANDREW PRENTICE, SPORT REPORTER, AUSTRALIA<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 22:12 EDT, 11 September 2025 | Updated: 22:14 EDT, 11 September 2025 <\/p>\n

Aussie cricket star\u00a0Usman Khawaja is approaching the twilight of his Test career \u2013 and has already secured a high-profile TV role once he retires.<\/p>\n

Khawaja, 38, is likely to open the batting against England in the Ashes<\/a>, before transitioning into commentary once his playing days are done.<\/p>\n

The opening batsman will join Fox Cricket, where he will rub shoulders with the likes of\u00a0Adam Gilchrist, Mark Waugh, David Warner<\/a>\u00a0and Brett Lee.<\/p>\n

He could also enter politics, with global humanitarian issues close to his heart.<\/p>\n

‘Uzzie’ recently met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese<\/a>, with the pair discussing the plight of the Palestinian people of Gaza and the killing of thousands of children by Israeli forces.<\/p>\n

Khawaja has called for increased sanctions on Israel and more humanitarian aid for Gaza.<\/p>\n

\"Aussie <\/p>\n

Aussie cricket star Usman Khawaja (pictured with wife Rachel) is approaching the twilight of his Test career<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The opening batsman will join Fox Cricket, where he will rub shoulders with the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Mark Waugh, David Warner and Brett Lee\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Khawaja <\/p>\n

Khawaja hasn’t ruled out entering politics once his playing days are over<\/p>\n

A father to\u00a0daughters Ayla and Aisha, Khawaja is distressed to see children die anywhere due to conflict.<\/p>\n

‘They are just kids. One death is one too many. The loss of each is equal,’ he said.<\/p>\n

‘Yet the government has given $1billion in aid to Ukraine, and $130million to the people of Gaza.’<\/p>\n

Khawaja – who was born in Pakistan \u2013 also wants to see an inclusive, multicultural Australia.<\/p>\n

‘I had some tough times growing up in western Sydney, and I hate it when other people discriminate against Australians, for being Australians,’ he added.<\/p>\n

‘Because I am not white doesn’t mean I am not Australian. That is something I have had to deal with my whole life.’<\/p>\n

In terms of eventually swapping his cricket whites for a spot in parliament, Khawaja is weighing up his options.<\/p>\n

‘I was very fortunate to have a one-on-one with the PM. I want to keep that relationship open in the future, so I am mindful of not talking about a private conversation,’ he said.<\/p>\n

‘I did talk to him about the children of Gaza dying.<\/p>\n

‘People say sport and politics don’t mix, but I know so many politicians through cricket. Whether I would do anything (in politics) after my career… I would never say no, but I am not really sure.<\/p>\n

‘I don’t say yes either. I have a young family and other things happening in my life.’<\/p>\n

The first Ashes Test is in Perth from November 21.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Share or comment on this article:
\n Cricket star Usman Khawaja lands a VERY high-profile TV job to set himself up for life after retirement – and opens up about going into politics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Recently met with\u00a0Prime Minister Anthony Albanese\u00a0 By ANDREW PRENTICE, SPORT REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 22:12 EDT, 11 September 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[2324,13285,64,63,740,100,18754,1208,6897,588,85],"class_list":["post-136657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-ashes","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-dailymail","tag-david-warner","tag-england","tag-israel","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}