“Ayla and I have tiny heads”: Usman Khawaja defends wife Rachel Khawaja trying to breastfeed him in place of daughter

Dixit Bhargav | 09/01/2023
"Ayla and I have tiny heads": Usman Khawaja defends wife Rachel Khawaja for trying to breastfeed him in place of daughter

It would be an understatement to say that Australia batter Usman Khawaja has made optimum use of a Test comeback handed to him around this time last year. Khawaja, in fact, is the highest run-scorer in the format since the start of 2022 after having amassed 1,275 runs across 21 innings at an average of 79.68 including five centuries and half-centuries each.

Although he was unfortunate to miss out on a maiden Test double century in his latest innings, Khawaja scoring a career-best 195* against South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground can easily be categorized as ideal preparations for the forthcoming tour of India.

One of the many national comebacks made by Khawaja across formats in what is now a 12-year old international career, this one must be feeling pretty special to him for it came at a time when modern-day players start considering retiring from international cricket.

Usman Khawaja defends wife Rachel Khawaja for trying to breastfeed him in place of daughter

Khawaja, 36, wholeheartedly credited wife Rachel Khawaja for being a pillar in his life especially with respect to taking care of his personal life. The left-handed batter also shared a hilarious incident involving his wife mistaking him for youngest daughter Ayla before breastfeeding her.

“I had two children because she’s the one doing all the hard work and doing it well, too, actually,” Khawaja told ABC Sport in a post-match conversation at the SCG yesterday. “She’s had a tough week. Our youngest daughter is teething and to the extent when she’s been sleep deprived. I was sleeping next to her the other day and she started grabbing my head. It was 02:00 AM and I was like ‘What’s going on here?’

“And she’s like ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. I thought you were Ayla.’ She was trying to breastfeed me. She’s delirious right now. She puts in a lot of hard work. So, a lot of credit goes to my wife. Thank you for letting me sleep a little bit more.”

It was only this morning when Khawaja took to social media platform Twitter to defend Rachel saying that both him and Ayla have tiny heads. Hence, his wife getting confused was understandable.

For the unversed, Usman and Rachel married each other in 2018. The couple has two daughters namely Aisha and Ayla.

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
Australia Rachel Khawaja usman khawaja

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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