Usman Khan’s career cut short after failed Pakistan return

Usman Khan’s career appears to be over before it could even take off. After rejecting UAE cricket and moving back to Pakistan, the batter has failed to perform and is no longer even part of the Pakistan junior team. He also did not receive a new contract from PCB, while the 5-year ban imposed on him by the Emirates Cricket Board will only expire in 2029. Had he not breached his UAE contract, he could have been playing the Asia Cup today.

According to details, Usman Khan made his debut in 2017 for Karachi Whites. In his four innings of two first-class matches, he scored just 0, 8, 9, and 22 runs. Afterwards, he moved to the UAE seeking better opportunities. Despite holding a Pakistani passport, he played as a local player in the ILT20 for the Gulf Giants, a team owned by an Indian businessman, and earned around PKR 14 million (USD 50,000).

With permission from the Emirates Cricket Board, Usman featured in PSL 9 as a foreign player, where he scored two centuries in the 2024 edition. Representing Multan Sultans, he was the second-highest run-scorer after Babar Azam. Following this, franchise owners and PCB officials showed him big dreams. On March 18, when the tournament ended, Usman also sent a notice to terminate his UAE retainer contract.

PCB then called him to the training camp at Kakul and included him in the squad for the New Zealand series. However, after breaching his UAE contract, the Emirates Cricket Board slapped a 5-year ban on him. Soon after, he made his T20I debut for Pakistan against New Zealand and, in March of this year, began his ODI career against the same team with some early success.

But in the latest PSL, now as a local Pakistani player, his performance was disappointing — scoring just 213 runs in 8 matches with a single fifty. At the international level too, he failed to impress. Last year, Usman was placed in PCB’s central contract Category D, but this year he was left out completely. He is now not part of the national team, nor even of the Pakistan Shaheens (junior side).

For Pakistan, Usman has played 19 T20 internationals, scoring only 239 runs at an average of 14.93, with just one half-century. In ODIs, he managed just 51 runs from two matches.

An official stated that Usman was fast-tracked into the national side due to his apparent talent, but he failed to prove himself. “How could we keep playing him after so many failures?” he said. 

A former player remarked that Usman played the wrong shot in his career move, not realizing that Pakistan has far greater competition and talent. 

“Here, you can’t survive long without performing. In the UAE, against weaker teams, he could have looked like Babar Azam and become a superstar,” he said. 

It should be noted that Usman’s suspension from UAE cricket will end in 2029. His career now faces serious uncertainty. If he had not returned to Pakistan, he would have been eligible to represent UAE this June and could likely have been part of their Asia Cup squad.