Pakistani-origin Khawaja to face Pakistan

Osman Khawaja, whom ESPNcricinfo has described as 'very Australian', is set to take on the country of his birth for the first time in a Test match at Gabba, Brisbane, on Thursday.

Khawaja, who left Pakistan 25 years ago, as a little boy with his family, has played 20 Test matches in the baggy green after his debut in 2011.

Interestingly, he was mistaken for a Pakistani player on Tuesday by officials at the Gabba ahead of the Brisbane Test against Pakistan. That happened despite his being Queensland's state captain.

"Funnily enough I was waiting downstairs and I needed the change room locker to be opened for us and I was just waiting and the Queensland Cricket lady came down," Khawaja was quoted by ESPN to have said at the Gabba.

"She was like 'Oh, you need the locker rooms open?' I went 'yes please' and she started walking to the Pakistani change room. I was like, 'No, I'm that way, thank you'."
According to ESPN, his Pakistani background remains important to Khawaja, although he remembers only glimpses of his early life in Islamabad. He has not been back to visit relatives in Pakistan since 2008, and has had few dealings with the Pakistan cricket team, having played against them only in a solitary Twenty20 international during this year's World T20 in India.
Asked whether playing his first Test against Pakistan would be a significant moment, Khawaja said he had not considered the matter in that way, but he said it might be a big moment for his parents, Tariq and Fozia.
"They grew up in Pakistan and were there for a long time," Khawaja said. "Obviously I was born there, so it's a very close part of me. It still is a very big part of me... culture is very important, as is religion. My parents are Australian but they're also very Pakistani."
Khawaja said: "If I broke it down, the way I act and what I do, is very Australian, but there are always parts of me [that are Pakistani] - when I talk to my parents I still at times try to speak Urdu here and there. It's not as good as theirs but they can understand what's going on. It is a big part of my life when I'm with my parents or around my parents, but other than that it's usually quite normal."
Khawaja was four-and-a-half years old when the family moved to Sydney, and his life quickly became that of any young Australian, wrote ESPN.
There was never any doubt over which country held Khawaja's cricket future, and in 2011 he became the first Pakistan-born cricketer to win a baggy green, said the ESPN report.
"I've had glimpses of memories from before I left," he said. "I was born in Islamabad. So I have glimpses of memories of our old place and whatnot, but nothing too circumstantial. Most of my childhood memories revolve around being in Australia, being in Sydney."
The Pakistan series will not only pit Khawaja against the country of his birth, but also against his former Australia coach Mickey Arthur, who is now in charge of Pakistan's side. ESPN mentioned that Khawaja was one of the four players suspended during the homework saga in India in 2013, which was a key moment in the eventual downfall of Arthur as Australia's coach.