'It was the first time I had shed tears in the dressing room ever'- Usman Khawaja recalls the heartbreaking World Cup semi-final exit

Australia is one of the best teams in ODI formats and were the main contenders to win the 2019 World Cup. But to their despair, they lost the semi-final to England by eight wickets. One of the main reasons behind their defeat was the absence of their in-form opener Usman Khawaja, who sustained a hamstring injury in the last group game against South Africa. Now, the left-hand batsman has opened up over the same and said that he was in tears after semi-final defeat.

It is always a dream for a player to win World Cup trophy for his country but it isn’t an easy task. Usman Khawaja, the 33-year-old had the best chance of his life to do so, who was in red-hot form with the bat during the mega event. He had amassed a total of 346 runs in nine games with two brilliant fifties in the group stage.

It looked like Khawaja might help his team in winning the major one but that never happened as he sustained a hamstring injury after playing just five balls against South Africa in the last group stage game. Subsequently, he was also ruled out of the crucial semi-final clash.

Usman Khawaja feels his hamstring injury let his team down in 2019 World Cup

The Aussie player was shattered after his team’s defeat against England in the semi-finals. Khawaja said on the launch event for the documentary series that it was the first time that he was left in tears in the dressing room. He had no idea about the camera as his overflowing emotions came out rolling through his eyes. The 33-year-old also told that all his life he wanted to play and win the World Cup for his country. At that moment, the team was pretty sure that they will lift the trophy but his hamstring injury let his team down.

“Knowing that my World Cup was over, it just hit me so hard. It was the first time in my life I had shed tears in a dressing room ever. With all the emotion that was going on, I had no idea that the camera was there. It was just everything that happened up to that point. So much hard work for the team and everything that went by. It was raw emotion.

“I rarely ever tear up. It was built up over my whole life wanting to play in a World Cup and then play in a World Cup semi, then hopefully a World Cup final. I honestly thought we were going to win. Even after I got injured, I thought we were going to win. I felt like that hamstring injury let the team down a bit. Especially in that game. Missing out on the opportunity to play in a World Cup semi-final was just heartbreaking,” Usman Khawaja said as quoted by FoxSports.