Australian opener calls ICC double standards, Pat Cummins extends support for Gaza crisis

Usman Khawaja

After the International Cricket Council (ICC) rejected Usman Khawaja's request to put a dove sticker on his bat and shoes during the upcoming Boxing Day Test against Pakistan, the veteran opener has now called out cricket's global governing body over its ‘double standards.' Khawaja had been cleared to sport logos of a black dove holding an olive branch by Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association, in the Test starting today, but it was rejected by the ICC.

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Pat Cummins

On Monday, Khawaja uploaded a reel on Instagram with Kanye West's ‘Can't Tell Me Nothing' song running in the background as he pointed out "double standards" from the ICC. "Merry Christmas everybody. Sometimes you just gotta laugh. Cya on Boxing Day! #inconsistent #doublestandards," he wrote, with a facepalm emoji, in the caption. In the reel, Khawaja had included images of West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran putting a cross and the word "believe" on his bat, as well as of his teammate, top-order batter Marnus Labuschagne sporting an eagle logo and a bible verse on his bat.

On Monday, Australia Test captain Pat Cummins backed Khawaja's stance over sporting the dove logo. "Not really, no. I don't know the ins and outs of the application, but I think it is pretty vanilla, a dove. We really support Uzzy, he's standing up for what he believes, and he's doing it really respectfully.

"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 are 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," Cummins said.

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