Sydney, Jan 2 (IANS) Australia skipper Pat Cummins and former Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan congratulated Usman Khawaja after the veteran Australian batter announced that he will retire from international cricket after the fifth and final Ashes Test, scheduled from January 4 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The 39-year-old opener will retire as one of Australia’s most prolific run-scorers; 30 more in his farewell Test will see him pass Michael Hussey’s tally of 6,235 into 14th among Australian men.

Congratulating him on his successful international career of 15 years, Cummins posted a picture of himself celebrating a wicket with Khawaja. The skipper also hoped that Usman would score a century in his farewell Test. “Congratulations on an international career, mate. One more home century to go,” he posted on X.

Dhawan also reacted to Khawaja’s retirement call and lauded his journey while wishing him luck for his final match. “What a journey @Uz_Khawaja. Good luck for the last Test in Sydney and everything that comes next,” Dhawan shared on X.

Speaking to the media at the SCG, Khawaja said the decision had been on his mind for some time and that discussions with his wife, Rachel, played a significant role in finalising it.

“I’ve been thinking about it, not wholly, but for a while. Moving into this series, I kind of had an inkling in my head that this would be the last series. I talked to Rachel about it a fair bit, and I knew this was a big chance. I didn’t leave the door fully shut because I knew there was a chance I could play on. I know Andrew McDonald, even right till the very end when I told him a few days ago, was still thinking about how I could get to India,” he told reporters on Friday.

In a career spanning 15 years, Khawaja has amassed over 8,000 international runs across formats while featuring in 87 Tests, 40 ODIs and nine T20Is. In 2023, Khawaja was named ICC Test Cricketer of the Year and Shane Warne Test Cricketer of the Year and also played in Australia’s World Test Championship victory.

–IANS

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