Young Pakistan batter Azam Khan was penalised by the country's cricket board after he reportedly displayed the Palestine national flag on his bat during a National T20 game, reports said. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) fined Azam Khan 50% of his match fees for breaching the ICC's clothing and equipment regulations.
It was on the back of his bat's toe that the wicket-keeper batter pasted a sticker of the Palestine flag while representing the Karachi Whites against Lahore Blues on Sunday, Pak-based Geo.TV said in a report. Visuals of 25-year-old Khan using the said bat during the game are available on social media.
this is a muslim contry ???🤔
— Ghufran Armani7 (@GhufranArmani7) November 27, 2023
Azam khan used Palestine flag on his bat today Karachi whites vs Lahore blues match.
But PCB fine him 50% of match fee and give him warning as well.#pcb #azamkhan #nationalT20#ShameOnPCB pic.twitter.com/nb3cNcKggF
The batter was earlier warned by the match referee not to display the flag sticker on his bat as it qualified as an unapproved logo, the report said. He was told that it would be a breach of the ICC code of conduct. However, Azam Khan reportedly told the umpires that all his willows had similar stickers on them.
According to the report, this was not the first match in which he used bats with Palestine flags imprinted on them. He reportedly used similar bats in two previous outings of Karachi Whites in the tournament.
The ICC disapprove of the display of messages that are political, religious, or racial in nature.
The ICC disapprove of the display of messages that are political, religious, or racial in nature.
Earlier in October, Pakistan batter Mohammad Rizwan had kicked up a row after dedicating his ICC ODI World Cup century to "brothers and sisters in Gaza." It was after anchoring Pakistan's historic World Cup run chase against Sri Lanka that Rizwan dedicated his knock to the victims of the Israel-Palestine war in Gaza.
“This was for our brothers and sisters in Gaza. Happy to contribute in the win. Credits to the whole team and especially Abdullah Shafique and Hassan Ali for making it easier. Extremely grateful to the people of Hyderabad for the amazing hospitality and support throughout,” Rizwan wrote on X (formerly Twitter)
