Usman Khawaja Under The Scanner Again! Aussie Opener Asked To Remove Dove Sticker From Bat

usman khawaja forced to remove banned dove bat sticker during australia vs new zealand test

Political debates and discussions have yet again struck Usman Khawaja, with the batter asked to remove the dove with an olive branch sticker from his bat during the Australia vs New Zealand Test at Wellington. On Saturday morning, Khawaja cracked his bat during Australia’s second innings at the Basin Reserve.

Khawaja was required to peel off a human rights sticker of a dove holding an olive branch from the replacement bat, on the field, before restarting his innings.

During the recent home summer, ICC rejected Khawaja’s request to wear the dove holding an olive branch, that raises awareness for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, during international games because they deemed it a ‘political protest’.

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“The symbol of the dove is an universally recognised symbol of peace. That being said, the ICC have got their rules and think they explained their rationale really clearly and we respect that,” Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley said last year.

“What we’ve been clear about is that we support Uzzie and all our players to share what the what they believe over their own channels,” Hockley added.

Ahead of this summer’s Boxing Day Test against Pakistan, Khawaja called out ICC for ‘double standards’, posting images of teammate Marnus Labuschagne with bible verses on his bat. A few weeks earlier, the southpaw was prevented from shoes donning the message ‘all lives are equal’ and ‘freedom is a human right’ during the Perth Test against Pakistan.

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Khawaja was censured by ICC for wearing a black armband during the game.

“I don’t know the ins and outs of the application, but I think it is pretty vanilla, a dove. We support Uzzy, I think he’s standing up for what he believes and I think he’s doing it respectfully. All lives are equal and I don’t think that’s very offensive, and I’d say the same about the dove,” Australian skipper Pat Cummins said earlier this summer.

Khawaja scored 33 in the first innings and 28 in the second.