AUS vs ENG: Australian opener Usman Khawaja, who played his final International match for Australia, received a heartwarming 'guard of honour' from the opposition players led by Ben Stokes on Day 5 of the Sydney Test. While chasing 160 in the final innings, Khawaja walked in at number five as England players positioned themselves for the gesture as the left-hander shook hands with captain Stokes.

Khawaja's innings ended at 6; however, he received the final applause as an international player after his wicket. As he left the ground, he waved towards the crowd, acknowledging the gesture from the crowd.

He also knelt to kiss the ground marking his final goodbye as a servant of Australian Cricket.

Despite Khawaja's wicket, Australia huffed-and-puffed to a 5-wicket win to claim the Ashes series 4-1.

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Khawaja, in the post-match interview, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to celebrate a victory with his teammates.

"It means a lot. So much has gone into it, so long. It's funny, the game of cricket is so great. And I said to Rach this morning, she was like, just enjoy it. The only thing I wanted was to win. Finish off the Ashes with a win. I'd love nothing more. As much as I wanted to go out there and score runs and hit the winning runs, I'm just grateful for one last final win and celebrate with my teammates.”

Hard To Concentrate With So Many Emotions: Khawaja

The 39-year-old stated that he found it hard to concentrate, with his emotions being all over the place.

Speaking about how he controlled himself, Khawaja said, "It was very tough. I was trying to act cool, but in the intense Test match, I found it really hard to control my emotions.”

“I've prided myself on being able to control my emotions my whole career. I haven't given away too much to the opposition or to anyone. I found it really hard to concentrate a lot. Even in the first innings, I found it hard to get into rhythm. And even today, it was... my whole career, particularly the last end of the career has been built on process, process, process.

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"It's just so hard to go out there and concentrate. But I'm glad we got the win, got over the line. And it's something I'll cherish for the rest of my life, being able to finish here at the SCG,” he added.

Inputs from Agency