New Delhi: On day 3 of the opening Test match between Australia and New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, Australian opener Usman Khawaja was forced to remove a black dove sticker from his bat. Khawaja changed his bat mid-match after he unfortunately cracked his bat during Australia’s 2nd innings and was given a substitute bat by Matt Renshaw which had a dove sticker on it. Before resuming his innings, Khawaja had to peel off the sticker, which showed a dove holding an olive branch.
Khawaja had previously requested to wear the sticker during the Test series against Pakistan to express solidarity with Palestine amid the humanitarian crisis with Gaza. However, the ICC rejected his request, deeming it a ‘political protest’. Despite this, he has continued using the sticker during his net sessions.
Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley and Test captain Pat Cummins have pledged complete support to Khawaja, who was also banned from wearing shoes displaying the message “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” during the series-opener against Pakistan.
During Saturday’s play, Khawaja was out for 28 after Tom Blundell affected a brilliant stumping off Glenn Phillips’ bowling. Nathan Lyon, who top-scored with 41, resumed with Khawaja but was the second wicket to fall in the first session. Australia was bowled out for 169, with Lyon dismissing Tom Latham just before lunch. The visitors had snared a massive 204-run lead after bowling the Black Caps out for 179 in reply to their first innings total of 383.