Usman Khawaja reveals he played Test cricket with rheumatoid arthritis
The former Australia batter says he kept his diagnosis from teammates throughout an 88-Test career and credits regular injections with helping him return to play.
Usman Khawaja has disclosed that he played 88 Tests for Australia while living with rheumatoid arthritis, a diagnosis he kept from teammates throughout his international career, ABC News reported. The former batter is speaking publicly about the condition ahead of an Australian Story episode and the release of his memoir.
Khawaja told ABC’s Australian Story that he was diagnosed at 22, while playing for New South Wales, after severe pain developed in his left knee. Before doctors identified the condition, he feared he had a terminal illness. He recalled going from playing professional cricket to being unable to walk 10 metres to the bathroom.
How Khawaja managed arthritis during his Test career
Khawaja said he told medical and coaching staff and cricket administrators about his diagnosis, but did not tell fellow players. He said he wanted to avoid special treatment and feared the condition could be used against him. ABC reported that even David Warner, his childhood cricket friend, and former Test teammate Michael Hussey did not know.
He said regular injections of a drug helped him return to the crease about six months after his diagnosis. Khawaja called the treatment a ‘godsend’ and said that without it he would not have played cricket again or lived a normal life.
His Test debut followed in January 2011, when he became Australia’s 419th Test player. His career included eight omissions from the national side and a return in Sydney in 2022, when he scored centuries in both innings at age 35. He retired from international cricket after Australia’s Ashes win in January 2026; his final Test was at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 8 January.
Australian Story episode and Sabr memoir
Khawaja said he hopes speaking about the condition will encourage others living with autoimmune disease. ‘If a person can play at the top level … as a professional cricketer with rheumatoid arthritis, then I think a lot of other people can achieve a lot, too,’ he told Australian Story. ABC identifies the episode as Unbeaten.
He also details the experience in Sabr, which Penguin Random House Australia lists as his memoir in hardback, ebook and audiobook editions. Khawaja continues to play Big Bash League cricket after retiring from international matches, according to ABC.
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Sources and context
- Usman Khawaja reveals illness he kept secret his entire Test cricket careerABC News
- Sabr — Usman KhawajaPenguin Random House Australia
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.