Australian opener Usman Khawaja was spotted wearing a pair of shoes with the names of his daughters, Aisha and Ayla, replacing Pro-Palestine slogans on Day 2 of the 1st Test against Pakistan at Optus Stadium in Perth.
Khawaja sparked a controversy after he was spotted wearing ‘All Lives Are Equal’ shoes in reference to his support to the people of Palestine during Australia’s training ahead of the first Test against the visiting Pakistan team.
However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) disapproved of the Australian opener wearing shoes with such slogans which carry a political meaning. Ahead of the Test series opener, Australia captain Pat Cummins confirmed that Khawaja won’t be wearing ‘All Lives Are Equal’ in order to avoid creating a big fuss.
However, Usman Khawaja walked out to bat on Day 1 of the Test with black armband reportedly to show his resistance against ICC for disallowing him to wear the shoes with Pro-palestine slogans.
Usman Khawaja will not bow down to ICC
Speaking to Fox Sports ahead of the 1st Test, Usman Khawaja believes that he's a grown up man and has the right to do whatever he wants. He also accused the ICC for not taking any action against past controversial incidents.
“I'm a grown man, I can do anything I want, but the ICC will just keep coming down and giving me fines, and at some point, it will detract from the game. I stand by what I said. I'll stand by it forever.”
“But, I also need to go out there and really concentrate on what I'm doing,” the Australian said in the interview.
“I'll try to do it as soon as possible, whenever that's possible. I think there have already been precedents set in the past that ICC have allowed.
