Australia's opening batter Usman Khawaja donned a black armband to the field while batting against Pakistan in the opening Test of the three-match series in Perth on Thursday (December 14). Khawaja's gesture is a mark of solidarity to show solidarity with the people caught in Israel-Hamas conflict. The Pakistan-born batter had earlier planned to wear special shoes with the message "All Lives Are Equal", but was stopped by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from doing so. As a result, he decided to wear the same shoes, but covered the message with a tape.
However, Khawaja has made his intentions pretty clear with his latest armband gesture for the people stuck in Israel-Palestine conflict.Khawaja had earlier vowed that he will fight the ICC for his right to express humanitarian views on the field after it was confirmed that he will not be wearing any messages written on his shoes."What I have written on my shoes is not political. I am not taking sides. Human life to me is equal. One Jewish life is equal to one Muslim life is equal to one Hindu life and so on. I am just speaking up for those who do not have a voice," Khawaja told Channel 7. Cricket Australia in a statement released on Wednesday prior to skipper Pat Cummins' pre-game press conference said, "We support the right of our players to express personal opinions. But the ICC has rules in place which prohibit the display of personal messages which we expect the players to uphold."
