Australia’s
Ashes-winning captain Pat Cummins has been hailed for his leadership quality as
Australia thrashed England 4-0 in a five-Test series. On Sunday, Cummins was
praised for his sense of understanding his players, a key quality of a captain.
Usman Khawaja, who smashed 137 and 101 not out in the fourth Test at Sydney Cricket
Ground (SCG) against England, was not showered by champagne at the victory
stand as Australian players celebrated the retention of Ashes at Bellerive Oval,
Hobart. 

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Khawaja
is Australia’s first Pakistani origin Muslim cricketer. He became only the third
Australian cricketer to hit back to back hundred at the SCG. Doug Walters (vs
West Indies in 1968/69) and Ricky Ponting (vs South Africa in 2005/06) are
other Australians who achieved this feat.

As
the jubilant Australian side started popping champagne bottles on the victory
stand, Khawaja stepped aside to avoid being sprayed with alcohol in keeping
with his religious beliefs.

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Captain
Cummins quickly noticed and asked his teammates to stop the celebration with
alcohol and gestured Khwaja to rejoin them on the stage.

View this post on InstagramA post shared by Usman Khawaja (@usman_khawajy)

Khawaja,
who played the last two matches of the five-test series, returned to the stage
and kneeled beside Cummins as the victorious side let out a roar posing for the
cameras.

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“We got diverse bunch of people”

“We’ve
got a really diverse bunch of people and you want to celebrate that, you want
to make sure everyone feels comfortable being themselves. That was just one
moment,” Cummins told reporters on Monday.

“The
boys are fantastic in that space. They always look after each other. It’s a really
tight-knit group. I think one of the reasons is there is a lot of respect and
love for each other. We had to make sure our team mate was in the photo with
us,” added Cummins.

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Khawaja thanks Cummins

The
left-hander took to Twitter to thank Cummins for his gesture.

“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 Folded handsFlag of Australia,” wrote Khawaja on Twitter.

Also Read: Ashes: Khwaja scripts history as Australia set England daunting target

“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.”