Usman Khawaja reveals the request Australian coach Andrew McDonald made to him as he hits back at retirement calls

Usman Khawaja has revealed a shock plea for the veteran to keep playing until this tour as the opener took a veiled swipe at those who had been telling him to retire over the summer.

Usman Khawaja has revealed a plea from Australian coach Andrew McDonald that the veteran keep playing until this tour as the opener took a veiled swipe at those who had been telling him to retire over the summer.

Khawaja, 38, became the oldest Australian to score a Test century in more than two decades, batting for the entirety of day one in Galle for an unbeaten 147 as the tourists reached 2-330 at stumps in the first Test against Sri Lanka.

The 16th Test century of Khawaja’s career was his first since mid-2023, and came after a calendar year in which he averaged 25.93 in the format.

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke had earlier in the month argued that Khawaja should retire after the Sydney Test against India.

“This is Uzzie’s home Test match, the SCG,” Clarke said on the Beyond 23 podcast.

“I know he would like to keep playing. His form has not been as good as he would like throughout this series.

“There is a lot of cricket in between, but I also think that could be a great opportunity for a new player to come in, open the batting, get some Test match cricket under their belt before the first Ashes Test match.”

It was Usman Khawaja’s first century in two years. Picture: AFP

But Khawaja stressed that he had continued playing because it was in the best interests of the team.

“It’s been a tough summer, and I think I finished the summer off really well, but had a lot of people telling me how I should go by my career and what I should do from here on in,” Khawaja said after play on Wednesday.

“But, I mean, I’m not here for anyone but the team, I mean, Andrew McDonald even last year, he said to me, ‘I don’t care what happens, just make sure you’re on Sri Lankan tour, I want you on the Sri Lankan tour.’

Usman Khawaja revealed Australian coach Andrew McDonald’s plea to play on until the series in Sri Lanka. Picture: Getty Images

“I’m not just playing cricket because I’ve got a gluttony to score lots of runs, and I want to tick off 16,17, 18 hundreds, is not going to make a difference to my life. I’m going to finish this game, I’ve got beautiful kids and family and I’ll try to give back as much to the world and community as I can, but I just enjoy playing cricket. Hopefully I can score runs and contribute for my team, and then the rest is up to God. So I’m pretty chill with everything, but it’s nice to get a hundred after the summer, because it was a tough summer.”

Originally published as Usman Khawaja reveals the request Australian coach Andrew McDonald made to him as he hits back at retirement calls