PAK vs AUS: "They Showed Hypocrisy" - Michael Holding On Usman Khawaja Being Charged By ICC

Australian opener Usman Khawaja was charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for wearing a black armband in protest of the victims of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Khawaja took the step during the first Test match between Australia and Pakistan without the consent of the ICC and was also reprimanded for the same.

ICC also put a ban on Usman Khawaja‘s shoes which contained a social message for the war victims in Gaza. The message read, “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal”. ICC took the step because it is a clear violation of its code of conduct, which prohibits to promotion of any political, religious, or racist message.

Michael Holding backs Usman Khawaja

Former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding has backed Usman Khawaja and has exposed the hypocrisy of the ICC in the whole saga. Holding said that he has been following Khawaja’s fiasco for many days and stated that he is not surprised by the step taken by ICC.

Speaking to ‘The Weekend Australian’, Michael Holding said, “I have been following the Khawaja fiasco and I cannot say I’m surprised by the ICC’s stance. If it had been most other organisations that showed some semblance of consistency with their attitude and behaviour on issues I could claim surprise, but not them. Once again, they show their hypocrisy and lack of moral standing as an organization.”

“The ICC regulations say re messaging ‘approval shall not be granted for messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes’,” said Holding. “So how the f*** people were allowed to take the knee for BLM and stumps were covered with LGBTQ colours?”