‘I genuinely thought I was going to die’: Usman Khawaja opens up on secret illness

Key points

• Retired Australian batsman Usman Khawaja has revealed he played his entire 88-Test career while living with rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune condition. Speaking on ABC's Australian Story, he said he was diagnosed at 22 after intense knee pain, and that he feared he was going to die.
• Khawaja kept the diagnosis secret, even from close teammates. He went on to play more than 130 times for Australia over 16 years, retiring after the fifth Ashes Test at the SCG in January.
• He said others with the condition could achieve much too.