Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has admitted that he is contemplating not wearing the logo of Cricket Australia major sponsor VB on religious grounds in the future, following his teammate Fawad Ahmed's similar stance a month ago.
Khawaja, who is the country's first Muslim Test cricketer and has not touched a drop of alcohol in his 26 years, has come out in support of the former Pakistani asylum-seeker, who was permitted to don a playing strip without alcohol advertising during Australia's limited-overs series in England.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, however, Khawaja will wait until he is a more permanent member of the national side before seriously considering taking the stance as he is back on the fringe of the Test team after being left out of the fifth match of the summer Ashes series at the Oval.
Stating that he had thought about asking for dispensation not to promote the beer giant via the Australian team's uniform, Khawaja said that he had discussed with South Africa batsman Hashim Amla, who is also a Muslim and has been exempted from sporting an alcohol logo for the Proteas, about how he would go about following the suit in future.
Khawaja even said that he would be 'absolutely willing' to make a financial sacrifice if he goes ahead with his stance as he is aware that Carlton and United Breweries - who produce VB, pours a massive revenue in Cricket Australia (CA).
