Usman Khawaja reveals he was told he didn't have the 'right skin' to play cricket in Australia

Melbourne, June 4: Australia cricketer Usman Khawaja has opened up about the racism he has faced in his early cricketing days in that country. The left-handed batsman - who became the first Muslim to play for Australia - revealed the mentality in Australia in those days was that a person of colour wasn't suited to playing cricket.

Khawaja told ESPNCricinfo, "When I was younger in Australia, the amount of time I got told I was never going to play for Australia, I'm not the right skin colour was immense. I'd get told I don't fit the team, and they wouldn't pick me. That was the mentality, but now it's starting to shift."

The 34-year-old cricketer of Pakistani origin made his international debut in the Ashes series in 2011. The southpaw, who was born in Islamabad moved to Australia with his family when he was five years old, said he didn't receive any support in the early days in Australian cricket. He has so far played 44 Tests for Australia.

"When I started being more involved in cricket, people with subcontinent heritage in Australia came up to me and said, 'We're so happy to see you at the top. Seeing someone like you, we feel we've got a part in the Australian team, and we support the Australian team. We didn't do it before, and we do it now'," said Khawaja.

"And that kept happening over and over and over again. The more that happened, I realised my background does matter, and it does make a difference. And then I realised from my childhood it probably took me a while to support Australia. I didn't really support Australia when I first went [from Pakistan] because I didn't really get it," he added.