Cricket - India v Australia - World Twenty20 cricket tournament - Mohali, India - 27/03/2016. Australia's Usman Khawaja plays a shot. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi Picture Supplied by Action Images
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Test batsman Usman Khawaja has said being racially vilified when he was growing up in Sydney led him to support other countries rather than back Australian sports teams.
The Pakistan-born 30-year-old said in a blog post that racial abuse was widespread on the playing field during his junior days and blamed it for curtailing the sporting ambitions of a number of his overseas-born friends.
