Usman Khawaja wears a dove and olive branch sign on his shoes and bat in the BBL 2024.

Usman Khawaja, a star hitter for Australia, wore his shoes and bat with the dove and olive branch sign during the Big Bash League (BBL) match against the Perth Scorchers in Brisbane. The International Cricket Council (ICC) intervened and requested that the southpaw remove the similar message that he had attempted to show during the Test series against Pakistan. He then had several meetings with representatives from Cricket Australia and the ICC, but he was not permitted to do so.

Usman Khawaja has been vocal about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine in the meantime.

Although the ICC never granted the go-ahead, he still wanted to spread the word about the issue. Later, the 37-year-old chose to express his displeasure by donning a black armband on the first day of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, although Khawaja revealed that this decision had been made due to a personal loss.

The emblem on Usman Khawaja shoes and bat is particularly noteworthy since it reflects the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” They ought to treat one another with a sense of brotherhood since they are endowed with reason and conscience.

Heat defeated the Scorchers thanks to Neser’s genius.

In the 13th edition of the BBL, which is currently underway at The Gabba, Brisbane was batting first when opener Khawaja went for 14 runs and opening partner Colin Munro was out for two. This put Brisbane in a bit of trouble. Heat needed something spectacular towards the finish, but Marnus Labuschagne took charge and hit 45 runs. With a brilliant 64 runs off of 30 deliveries, Michael Neser came up big to assist the hosts in scoring 191 runs.

The Scorchers were unable to mount a meaningful chase. After Josh Inglis and Laurie Evans were removed from the game, wickets tumbled like a house of cards, despite their best efforts to form a partnership. After losing by a final margin of 23 runs, they continued to be ranked second on the points table, while Brisbane Heat cemented their position as the leaders.