Tag: Usman Khawaja

  • Usman Khawaja’s unique initiative to help Palestinians

    Usman Khawaja’s unique initiative to help Palestinians

    Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja’s unique initiative to help the oppressed Palestinians has come to light.

    Usman started selling “Freedom and Equality” t-shirts with the words “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal”.

    Cricketer Usman Khawaja in his tweet on social networking website X says “I’ve teamed up with @electricwicky to bring you the uzzy “Freedom and Equality” T-shirts. All profits will be donated to the ‘Unicef Children of Gaza’. Appeal for those who can, please purchase to help support those who are struggling and spread the word!”

    It should be remembered that Usman Khawaja wore shoes with the slogan of expressing solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians in practice. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has punished Usman Khawaja for raising his voice for the oppressed Palestinians of Gaza.

  • Usman Khawaja shares video showing ICC’s double standards

    Usman Khawaja shares video showing ICC’s double standards

    Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has shared a Christmas greetings video to show the double standards of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

    The video shows religious symbols and other insignia on the bats of other players. West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran has a Christian cross sticker on his bat as seen in the video, Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne has a Bible message on his bat and South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj has a Hindu symbol on his bat.

    It should be noted that Usman Khawaja had asked the ICC for permission to put up a banner with the message of peace on the bat, but the body stopped him from using the peace symbol on the bat.

    Earlier Usman Khawaja had worn the shoes during a practice session before the first test against Pakistan, which had slogans written on them to express solidarity with the Palestinians and he wanted to wear these shoes in the second match against Pakistan.

    The ICC later said that Usman Khawaja had breached the Clothing and Equipment Act by wearing a blindfold in the Perth Test, for which he was charged.

  • Video of Usman Khawaja’s elder daughter hugging King Babar breaking the internet

    Video of Usman Khawaja’s elder daughter hugging King Babar breaking the internet

    Australia and Pakistan taking on each other in the Boxing Day Test at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday, players from both sides spread Christmas cheer during their training sessions.

    In a heartwarming gesture, Pakistani players celebrated Christmas on Monday by visiting the Australian nets at the MCG and offering gifts to the Australian players and their families as both sides prepare for the second Test.

    Pakistani cricketers were seen carrying gifts of cactus and candy to the children of the Australian players. Amid Christmas celebrations between the players of the two teams, the video has gone viral on social media, in which Usman Khawaja’s elder daughter is seen hugging former Pakistan captain Babar Azam in the nets.

    Usman Khawaja is at loggerheads with the International Cricket Council (ICC) after the rejection of the request to show the sign of peace on the bat to the Australian batsman to show solidarity with the victims of Gaza for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan in Melbourne.

  • Usman Khawaja’s emotional message on supporting Palestine has moved the internet

    Usman Khawaja’s emotional message on supporting Palestine has moved the internet

    Australian batsman Usman Khawaja released an emotional message on social media to support Palestine after wearing shoes that said ‘All Lives Matter’ in the colours of the Palestinian flag.

    He requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Cricket Australia (CA) to permit him to support Palestine on-field.

    Earlier, during the first Test match played in Perth against Pakistan, Usman wore a black armband.

    ICC charged the Australian opener, calling the armband a personal promotion.

    During a practice session before the Perth Test, the Kangaroos opener wore shoes with a pro-Palestinian slogan on them, but Cricket Australia and the ICC took action against him, after which he participated in the game with a black armband against Israeli atrocities.

    In his message Usman Khawaja said, “I don’t have any agendas other than trying to shine a light on what I feel, passionately, really strongly about. I’m trying to do in the most respectful way possible what around my shoes was really.”

    “I thought about it for a while where I was going to write. I made sure that I didn’t want to segregate different parts of the population, religious beliefs, and communities, hence why I’ve kept religion out of this. I want it to be really broad and open, mind speaking, because I’m talking about humanitarian issues.”

    “I’m talking about Article One or the Unified Declaration of Human Rights. That is the crux of it. The reason I’m doing it is because it hit me hard. You know, I told Nick just this morning that. When I’m looking at my Instagram I’m seeing kids, innocent kids, videos of them dying, and passing away. That’s what’s hit me the hardest”.

    I just imagine my young daughter in my arms is the same thing, I get emotional talking about it right now again, and for me, that’s the reason I’m doing this. I don’t have any hidden agendas. If anything, you know, this brings up more negativity towards me. People come and start attacking me. I don’t get anything out of this. I just feel like it’s my responsibility to speak up on this”.

    “We live in such a beautiful country. I’m blessed to be able to go to Australia. I can walk outside. I have to worry about a thing. My kids can do the same. I just want that for the rest of the world. And that’s the reason I’m saying this”.

  • ICC takes action against Usman Khawaja for wearing black armband

    ICC takes action against Usman Khawaja for wearing black armband

    The International Cricket Council (ICC) indicted Australian opener Usman Khawaja for wearing a black armband during the Perth Test against Pakistan.

    According to the ICC, Usman Khawaja violated the rules by his act of promoting a personal message, he did not seek permission from the Australian cricket board and the ICC before wearing the black armband.

    It should be remembered that the Australian batsman batted wore a black armband in the first Test against Pakistan and his move was to express solidarity with the Palestinian people.

  • Perth Test: Australia won the toss and decided to bat first against Pakistan

    Perth Test: Australia won the toss and decided to bat first against Pakistan

    In the first Test match between Pakistan and Australia in Perth, the host team won the toss and decided to bat first. Australia has scored 117 runs without loss in 25 overs before the lunch brake.

    Speaking on the occasion of the toss, the captain of the national Test team, Shan Masood said, “If I had won the toss, I would have batted first, two players are making their debut in our team in the first match against Australia”.

    Earlier, Aamir Jamal and Khurram Shehzad were given Test caps, and Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali gave Test caps to the players.

    Babar Azam was given a cap and a commemorative shield by the captain for playing his 50th Test.

    Pakistan’s squad:

    The national team decided to enter the field with four fast bowlers. The Pakistan team included captain Shan Masood, Imam ul Haque, Abdullah Shafiq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Aamir Jamal, and Khurram Shahzad.

    Australia’s squad:

    The Australian team consists of David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, captain Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyo,n and Josh Hazlewood.

    It should be noted that this series of three Test matches is being played for the Benaud–Qadir Trophy.

  • ‘I will fight’; Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja’s emotional message after ICC bans shoes supporting Palestine

    ‘I will fight’; Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja’s emotional message after ICC bans shoes supporting Palestine

    Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja released an emotional message on social media platform ‘X’ after International Cricket Council (ICC) banned him for wearing shoes on which a pro-Palestine slogan was written: “Freedom is everyone’s right and all lives are equal.”

    In his message Usman Khawaja said, “I won’t say much. I don’t need to. But what I do want is for everyone who did get offended somehow is to ask yourself these questions. It’s freedom, not for everyone. Our all lives are not equal. To me personally, it doesn’t matter what race, religion or culture you are. But let’s be honest about it. If me saying all lives are equal has resulted in people being offended to the point where they’re calling me up and telling me off. Well, isn’t that the bigger problem? These people obviously don’t believe in what I’ve written, and it’s not just a handful of people you’d be shocked about how many feel this way. What I’ve written on my shoes isn’t political. I’m not taking sides. Human life to me is equal.”

    The emotional star cricketer then said:

    “I’m just speaking up for those who don’t have a voice. This is close to my heart. When I see thousands of innocent children dying without any repercussions or remorse, I imagine my two girls. What if this was them? No one chooses where they’re born, and then I see the world turned their backs on him. My heart can’t take it. Already feel my life wasn’t equal to others when I was growing up. But luckily for me, I never lived in a world where that lack of inequality was life or death”.

    “The ICC have told me that I can’t wear my shoes on field because they believe it’s a political statement under their guidelines. I don’t believe it is so. It’s a humanitarian appeal. I will respect their view and decision, but I will fight it and seek to gain approval. Freedom is a human right”.

    A picture of Khawaja’s shoes with pro-Palestine, pro-equality slogan ‘All lives are equal’ went viral on social media.

  • ‘Freedom is everyone’s right;’ Usman Khawaja shows solidarity with Palestine

    ‘Freedom is everyone’s right;’ Usman Khawaja shows solidarity with Palestine

    Before the first Test against Pakistan, Australia’s Usman Khawaja trained with the team wearing shoes with slogans of solidarity with the Palestinian people, ‘Freedom is everyone’s right and all lives are equal’. Usman Khawaja will wear the same shoes on the first day of the Test match against Pakistan.

    Keeping in view the International Cricket Council (ICC) rules and regulations, it is too early to say whether Usman Khawaja will be able to wear the shoes with the alleged political message.

    According to the ICC Code of Conduct, players and team officials are not allowed to wear armbands, clothing or display anything on any equipment that carries a political, religious, or ethnic message.

    Recently in World Cup 2023, Pakistani wicketkeeper batsman Muhammad Rizwan tweeted in favor of Gaza. A case was also filled against Rizwan in India for praying Namaz during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

    In 2014, England all-rounder Moin Ali was asked to remove a wristband with the words ‘Save Gaza’ and ‘Free Palestine’ during a Test match against India.

  • Pat Cummins’ respect for Usman Khawaja’s religion during Ashes trophy celebration wins hearts

    Pat Cummins’ respect for Usman Khawaja’s religion during Ashes trophy celebration wins hearts

    Australian Test Captain Pat Cummins has won heart of several fans around the world after a great gesture with Muslim batter Usman Khawaja during the Ashes trophy celebration.

    Australia defeated England 4-0 under the captaincy of fast bowler Cummins and successfully retained the Ashes.

    Spraying champagne all around the place and chugging is quite common during the trophy celebrations of Australian cricket team. But the moment which caught everyone’s attention was when Cummins could be seen calling back Khawaja to join the trophy celebrations and told his teammates to keep the champagne bottles away. Besides his on-field captaincy during the Ashes, the 28-year-old was praised for his incredible off-field gesture too.

    Several people lauded the pacer for his brilliant gesture on Twitter. Have a look:

    “Usman is obviously Muslim, so he doesn’t like champagne being thrown. I just made sure he got up there and no champagne was thrown,” Cummins told reporters after the match.

    While taking to Twitter, Usman thanked his teammates for stopping their usual champagne celebration for him. “Inclusivity in the game and our values as a sport are so important,” he wrote.

    Pakistan-born Khawaja is the first-ever Muslim to represent the Australian men’s team. He made a stunning comeback in the fourth Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) where he scored centuries in both innings.

  • Brother of Pakistani-Australian cricketer jailed over fake terror plot

    Brother of Pakistani-Australian cricketer jailed over fake terror plot

    The brother of Pakistani-Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has been jailed for at least two years and six months for causing a co-worker to be locked up in a maximum-security jail by framing him with fake terrorism claims.

    Arsalan Tariq Khawaja admitted forging entries in the notebook of his UNSW colleague Kamer Nizamdeen in August 2018 after being jealous of his contact with a mutual woman friend, reported an Australian news agency.

    The entries included death threats against then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and the governor-general, as well as lists to attack police stations, an Anzac Day ceremony, the Boxing Day Test match and landmarks including St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney.

    In the NSW District Court on Thursday, Judge Robert Weber jailed the 40-year-old for four years and six months with a non-parole period of two years and six months.

    The term was backdated to when he first went into custody, meaning he will be eligible for release on parole in June 2021.

    Khawaja pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and dishonestly influencing a public official.

    He also asked the judge to take into account further matters of forging a document for a public official to accept it as genuine and inducing a witness to give false testimony.

    After Khawaja presented the authorities with the notebook, Nizamdeen was arrested and held in a high-security jail for one month until the truth was discovered.

    Describing his victim impact statement as “compelling evidence of the trauma and emotional harm” suffered by Nizamdeen, the judge noted he was unable to go back to his job and has returned to Sri Lanka.

    His report of having serious flashbacks to his time in prison was hardly surprising, given the innocent man spent part of his time in an isolation cell in a maximum security prison, the judge said.

    Khawaja also admitted that in 2017 he phoned authorities about another innocent man of whom he was jealous and made visa and terrorism accusations, including that the man had trained overseas.

    In the call he named his famous brother as a possible target of the man.

    The judge accepted psychiatric evidence that Khawaja had a borderline personality disorder which provided some explanation as to why such an intelligent man resorted to such “unforgivable” behaviour.