Cricketing legend Doug Walters has said that if Pakistan-born leg spinner Fawad Ahmed is opposed to wearing the team uniform, he should not be selected to play for Australia.
According to news.com.au, sports marketers also warned that Cricket Australia's decision to grant Ahmed's request to not wear the logo of sponsor Victoria Bitter for cultural reasons could make it harder to attract sponsors in the future.
Walters, who famously drank a record 44 cans of beer on a flight to London to commence the 1977 Ashes tour, expressed that Ahmed should realise that major sponsors like Carlton and United, which is paying more than 10 million dollars to support the Test, one-day and Twenty20 Australian teams, enabled players to command handsome pay packets, the report said.
Ahmed, who left Pakistan in 2009 as a refugee and had his Australian citizenship fast-tracked in time for the Askes tour, told Cricket Australia he was not comfortable wearing the VB logo due to his Islamic beliefs, the report added.