Cricketer Usman Khawaja Shares Pro Palestine Message, Pat Cummins Backs Mate: Know The Controversy

Ahead of the first test match between Pakistan and Australia at the Perth, Aussie batter Usman Khawaja comes out in support of Palestine. During the practice session, the cricketer was spotted wearing shoes with "Freedom is a human right" and "All lives are equal" slogans.

Thousands of innocent Palestinians have lost their lives since Hamas, a terror organization, and Israel got engaged in war.

According to the reports, the cricketer was planning to wear the same shoes during the first encounter against Pakistan to flag his support to the people of Palestine.

Soon after Khawaja's stunt came to notice, Cricket Australia dialed the cricketer telling him not to do any such thing again citing the ICC rules. In a statement, Cricket Australia said, "We support the right of our players to express personal opinions. But the ICC has rules that prohibit the display of personal messages which we expect the players to uphold."

Talking to the media in the pre-match conference, Australia's red ball captain Pat Cummins said "He had some words on his shoes. I think it's one of the strongest points of our team that everyone has his personal views and thoughts."

"I chatted to him about it briefly. I don't think he intended to make too big of a fuss, but we support him. He said he won't be wearing them," Cummins added.

Skipper told the media that Usman had "All lives are equal" written on his shoes and even he supports that.

"I don't think anyone can have too many complaints about that. 'All lives are equal' I support that," said Pat Cummins.

What ICC rules say:

According to the rule book of the game, "Any clothing or equipment that does not comply with these regulations is strictly prohibited."

The players are not allowed to display any logo on clothes or cricket equipment. Only a national logo, a commercial logo, an event logo, a manufacturer's logo, a charity logo, or a non-commercial logo will be permitted by the cricket regulatory authority in view of on-field discipline.