Australia’s star batsman Usman Khawaja recently released a video on his Instagram page criticising what he sees as the ICC’s “double standards” in handling players’ private communications during games.
Because of his intention to wear words of support on his uniform during the upcoming Australia-Pakistan series, Khawaja has gained attention. He donned shoes bearing the slogans “All lives are equal” and “Freedom is a human right” before to the commencement of the first Test match between Australia and Pakistan in Perth. The ICC cautioned him that showing these messages during the Test match would result in consequences.
Khawaja did not wear shoes with those inscriptions throughout the game, having accepted the ICC’s ruling.
Rather, he inscribed the names of his daughters on a black armband and vowed to keep fighting and contest the ICC’s ruling.
A few days ago, the ICC censured him for donning the black armband without authorization. He denied this accusation as well, arguing that it was a mourning and not a protest.
On his social media profile, Khawaja published a video today, December 25, emphasising the inconsistent way the ICC has handled cases involving personal messaging.
Khawaja begins his video by highlighting a section of the ICC’s Clothing and Equipment regulations that states that personal messages cannot be approved for reasons related to politics, religion, or race.
The next three clips in the video show players exhibiting political or religious statements. Nicholas Pooran is the first one with a cross on the back of his bat. In the second, Marnus Labuschagne is shown holding an Eagle sticker—a reference to a passage from the Bible—at the base of his bat. In the third, Keshav Maharaj is seen with a “Om” emblem on his bat.
The description for the video reads, “Merry Christmas to all of you ????????.” Sometimes, you just gotta laugh. Cya at Boxing Day! ???????? #inconsistent #doublestandards ????????”
On December 26, the second Test between Australia and Pakistan will begin at the MCG. It would be interesting to watch how the ICC reacts to Khawaja’s video.
Israel is entering its 12th week of a devastating air and ground campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 20,400 Palestinians, including 8,200 children.
Airstrikes targeting homes, hospitals and schools have displaced nearly 2 million Palestinians who now live in catastrophic conditions with little food, water and medicine, according to United Nations.
There are still 129 captives thought to remain captive in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israeli territory, which also killed nearly 1,200.
