Cricket Special Report: The Mysterious Case Of Usman Khawaja
When Sachin Tendulkar made his 50th Test century, it was without a doubt a milestone in the history of cricket. It was like Porsche creating a car that manages to break the land speed record for the 50th time. It was historic, it was
brilliant, it deserved attention and it got a little more attention than it deserved. Sir Donald Bradman gets bowled for a duck when he needed only four more runs to reach the 7000 run mark and get an average of 100. That ball, that moment, that duck, deserved
attention and it rightly did get attention.
What I fail to understand however is how someone can manage to get so much media attention for scoring 37 runs on his debut. Yes, 37 runs. That is not quite an achievement to be honest. Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 scores that many runs in most of his innings. In the very
same innings, Shane Watson scored a 45, Hughes scored 31 and believe it or not, Mitchell Johnson – yes the tattooed bowler – scored 53 runs. So why so much emphasis on http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Usman-Khawaja-c2729?
Not that I personally have anything against that man. In fact, I am very fond of him. I also happened to read his blog on the Cricket Australia website and it was refreshing, unique and not clichéd. The fact that he originates from the beautiful city of
Islamabad is another reason I like him and the fact that he somehow managed to make it into the Australian national cricket side is yet one more reason of why I want to see more of this cricketer. It is altogether a different feeling for millions of Australians
all around the globe seeing a Muslim cricketer with Pakistani origins representing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in cricket.
It is the same feeling millions of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 cricket fans would feel if they somehow see an Australian born Caucasian representing them in International cricket. Imagine Brett Lee playing for the Pakistan cricket team. Since the background of Khawaja is so
unique it makes him all the more mysterious and all the more likeable. There is this urge to know more about him, this urge to see him play some more. It makes Khawaja likeable because he has single-handedly shredded apart many clichés that exist about Muslim
people. Yes Muslims can play sports. No, sports are not Haram (forbidden) in the Muslim religion. Yes, Muslims can be cool too. No, they don’t want to blow people up all the time.
We do have oxymoronic people around who make statements like, “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim.” But, let us not delve into that course of discussion.
So back to our argument of the alien in a foreign land, serving the foreigners with his skill and talent. It makes a brilliant story. Khawaja most certainly deserves a place in the Australian side not because he is Muslim, but because he has proven that
he is good enough to play cricket for Australia.
At the same time, my point is that media these days has its own mysterious ways. Ways, that us lesser mortals do not truly understand. While Khawaja’s inclusion in the side was most certainly historical and extraordinary in so many different ways, his 37
was definitely not so historic. While many of us may love him for all that he represents, let us not compliment him when he scores a 37 for all of us are more than aware of the fact that this young man has a lot of potential. He can do far better than a 37
and no we do not want a 37 next time, we want a century.
If there is so much emphasis on a simple 37, then it merely shows that Australia do not have much to back their cricket on. If the Australian press is happy with a 37, then I certainly do not want to think about the troubling times ahead.
P.S Usman Khawaja is a better batsman than Andrew Hilditch ever can be.
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