Rawalpindi Pindiz have signed former Australian batter Usman Khawaja as a replacement for England’s Laurie Evans ahead of the 2026 Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Evans has withdrawn from the PSL, joining other overseas players like Spencer Johnson and Dusan Shanaka, who opted out for IPL contracts due to injury replacements. Rawalpindi Pindiz has not disclosed the reason for Evans’s withdrawal.
Khawaja recently retired from International Cricket after the 2025-26 Ashes series. He played three matches in the Big Bash League after the Test series against England, scoring 108 runs with a strike rate of 147.94. As the captain of Brisbane Heat, he made 78 runs off 48 balls in his first game.
Previously, Khawaja played one season in the PSL in 2021 with Islamabad United, scoring 246 runs at a strike rate of 152.79. He also hit a century against Peshawar Zalmi, making an unbeaten 105 from 56 balls while captain.
Khawaja will join a squad featuring other overseas players such as Sam Billings, Daryl Mitchell, Dian Forrester, Rishad Hossain, and Cole McConchie, who replaced Jake Fraser-McGurk after his withdrawal from the tournament.
Although Khawaja is not mainly known for his T20 skills, he has played over 120 T20 matches, scoring 3,400 runs at a strike rate of 131.32, including three centuries. His experience in international T20s includes just nine matches for Australia, the last being in 2016.
The 2026 PSL season will start on Thursday, March 26, with defending champions Lahore Qalandars facing new franchise Hyderabad Kingsmen at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Due to ongoing tensions in the Middle East, the tournament will be held behind closed doors at two venues – Lahore and Karachi.
