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:

Pat Cummins realises Usman Khawaja had to step aside because of the alcohol spraying celebrations, asks his other teammates to put the drinks away and calls Khawaja back over to the centre of the victory photo to celebrate. This was nice ❤https://t.co/zykZ4bWa9Y

— Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) January 16, 2022

No but I'm Still thinking about this greatness from Pat Cummins and others to make way for Uzzii to celebrate with the team by leaving the alcohol aside. Each and every second feeling more respectful towards them🥺👏❤️ #ASHES pic.twitter.com/rjnJguq958

— Aditi✨ (@Sev_Khamani) January 16, 2022

Usman Khawaja had to miss part of the celebrations earlier today as alcohol was present but Pat Cummins made sure he was called over and the drinks put aside https://t.co/ixFdUsbWWv #AUSvENG #Cricket

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) January 16, 2022

May seem like a relatively small gesture by Pat Cummins, but would have been massive for Usman in feeling acknowledged and part of the team 👏👏👏 https://t.co/EgYOhhDfTY

— DrZaf (@sportsdrzaf) January 16, 2022

Pat Cummins ❤️ https://t.co/ZjEyxfEL87

— Isa Guha (@isaguha) January 16, 2022

Fantastic awareness and sensitivity shown by Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins during his team’s victory over England, last night.

He tells the team to put away the champagne, so that his Muslim teammate Usman Khawaja can join in the celebration. pic.twitter.com/fuw3DReYve

— CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman) January 17, 2022

Pat Cummins asks his other teammates to put the drinks away and calls Usman Khawaja back over to the centre of the victory photo to celebrate.

What a gesture.🙏❤️ pic.twitter.com/QA86myefTb

— Awanish Sharan 🇮🇳 (@AwanishSharan) January 17, 2022

“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.

If this video doesn't show you that the boys have my back, I don't know what will. They stopped their normal champagne celebrations so I could rejoin. Inclusivity in the game and our values as a sport are so important. I feel like we are trending in the right direction 🙏🏾🇦🇺 https://t.co/LrthzP9v2N

— Usman Khawaja (@Uz_Khawaja) January 17, 2022

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.