Footage from the T20 World Cup final has sparked debate after two Muslim players were briefly excluded from England’s post-match celebrations on Sunday evening.
England defeated Pakistan by five wickets in front of 80,462 spectators at the MCG to become the first men’s team to simultaneously possess the ODI and T20 World Cup trophies.
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After the post-match presentation, the England squad briefly posed for photos before all-rounder Moeen Ali and leg-spinner Adil Rashid left the group, who proceeded to spray themselves in champagne.
Most of the Islamic community prohibits the consumption or even indirect association with alcohol.
England captain Jos Buttler was praised by many for ensuring Ali and Rashid were out of the way when the champagne showers commenced.
However, the England team was also criticised for not pursuing non-alcoholic alternatives, which would allow their Muslim teammates to join the festivities.
“Why would you want to exclude any of your players from any part of what should be one of the proudest moments of their careers?” cricket journalist Yas Rana wrote in Wisden.
“Why would you want them removed from the images that will be used to celebrate this achievement for years to come?
“Why is showering the team in alcohol a necessary, immovable part of the celebrations?
“When you have just won a World Cup, why would you want, even for a second, to exclude anyone from the celebrations?”
Following the 2019 Cricket World Cup final, which England infamously won via a boundary count, Ali and Rashid were forced to flee the team’s celebrations after the trophy presentation.
“I find it weird that people still think it is strange that we do it,” Ali wrote in The Guardian at the time.
“We respect our teammates and their desire to do this, they respect our beliefs.
“It’s really that simple.
“The amazing thing about our team is that guys took time out very early on to talk to us about our religion and our culture.
“They have made adjustments for us and we have for them.
“And we live in harmony.”
After securing the Bob Willis Trophy at Lord’s in 2020, an Essex cricketer made headlines for intentionally pouring his alcoholic beverage onto the head of Muslin teammate Feroze Khushi.
Essex County Cricket Club conceded the celebrations “did not meet the inclusive values of the organisation”, but the incident displeased members of the sport’s Muslim community.
“I don’t think there’s any benefit in blaming one, young player,” Sajid Patel of the National Cricket League told ESPNcricinfoat the time.
“Looking at those photographs, it seems the issue is more about ignorance than malice. No doubt the young man will learn from the experience.
“But I do blame the whole system. I do blame the team manager and the senior players who didn’t foresee this problem. I do think the PCA should be doing more to educate young players in this regard.
“We’ve seen the England team manage their celebrations in such a way that the Muslim players are included. We should be better than this by now.”
Following the fifth Ashes Test in Hobart earlier this year, Australian Test captain Pat Cummins was commended for stopping his teammates from spraying champagne so Muslim teammate Usman Khawaja could participate in the celebrations.
Footage of the moment Cummins waved Khawaja back received hundreds of thousands of views on social media platforms.
“If this video doesn’t show you that the boys have my back, I don’t know what will,” Khawaja tweeted at the time.
“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.”
