Even his best friend didn't know: Usman Khawaja explains why he played through pain and kept a career-threatening diagnosis to himself.
Usman Khawaja has revealed the secret he carried through his whole Test career: he was living with rheumatoid arthritis, a condition that at one point threatened his future in the game. He told almost no one, not even his closest friend.
The former Australia opener says he stayed quiet because he feared the diagnosis would be turned against him. In elite sport, where every selection spot is contested and any hint of weakness can be exploited, he chose to grind through the pain rather than hand anyone a reason to doubt him.
That silence makes his rise even more striking. Khawaja fought to establish himself as a Test cricketer while managing a condition that can make basic movement difficult, let alone batting for long hours in punishing conditions.
Now he is telling the story on his own terms. His autobiography, Sabr, is out on 10 November, and he says he wrote it for people who love cricket and for those who don't. It promises a candid look at the private cost of chasing a dream in the public eye.
