Australia skipper Pat Cummins came out in support of southpaw Usman Khawaja after the ICC the denied him the permissions to sport a logo on his shoes and bat for the 2nd PAK vs AUS Test at MCG. The Australian opener was planning to sport a logo of a black dove with an olive branch in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
Cummins backs Usman Khawaja
Backing Khawaja wholeheartedly, Cummins said that the opener was standing up for what he believes in and was doing so respectfully. As per The Age, Cummins stated that he did not think the dove symbol was offensive. However, he said that there were rules in place set by the ICC and that they had to be accepted.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of the application, but I think it is pretty vanilla, a dove,” Cummins said. “We really support Uzzy, I think he’s standing up for what he believes and I think he’s doing it really respectfully”, Cummins said.
“All lives are equal and I don’t think that’s very offensive, and I’d say the same about the dove. That’s Uzzy. He can hold his head high the way he’s gone about it, but there’s rules in place, so I believe the ICC have said they’re not going to approve that. They make up the rules and you’ve got to accept it.”
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Further, Cummins revealed that he had spoken to the southpaw ‘a fair bit’ on the topic and that he was trying to shine the light on the ‘war’ going on in Gaza. The skipper also claimed that players tended to play better when they were happy off the field.
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