Australia opening batter Usman Khawaja was on Saturday forced to remove a dove sticker from his bat on Day three of the first Test against New Zealand in Wellington.
This comes a couple of months after the International Cricket Council (ICC) had rejected Khawaja’s appeal to display a dove logo on his bat during the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan last year, in order to raise awareness over the crisis in Gaza.
In the 19th over of Australia’s second innings on Saturday, Khawaja had asked for a replacement bat, and Matt Renshaw walked out to the field with a couple of options. Khawaja then selected a bat which had the dove logo holding an olive branch, but was forced to remove the sticker from the bat.
Earlier in the Pakistan series in December, Khawaja had been reprimanded for wearing a black armband during the Perth Test , although the 37-year-old later clarified that it was worn for a “personal bereavement”.
Khawaja, however, had accused the ICC of double standards. “Merry Christmas everybody. Sometimes you just gotta laugh. CYA at Boxing Day!,” Khawaja had written on social media with the hashtags “double standards” and “inconsistent”.