Pat Cummins steals hearts by stopping champagne shower for Usman Khawaja

Pat Cummins’ leadership qualities were on display even after Australia won the Ashes series 4-0 on Sunday, when he made sure Usman Khawaja, Australia’s first Muslim cricketer, was not sprayed with champagne during the celebrations.

Khawaja stepped away to avoid getting splattered with alcohol as his ecstatic teammates began popping champagne bottles on the stage at Hobart’s Bellerive Oval, in keeping with his religious beliefs.

Cummins instantly spotted and motioned for Khawaja to rejoin them on the dais, asking his colleagues to set the bottles aside.

As the triumphant side let out a cheer and posed for the cameras, Khawaja, who played the final two matches of the five-test series, returned to the stage and kneeled by Cummins.

“Usman is obviously Muslim, so he doesn’t like the champagne being thrown,” Cummins, who concluded the series victory against England with the most wickets, informed reporters.

“I just made sure he got up there and no champagne was thrown.” Cummins’ “classy” gesture went viral on social media and was praised by fans as wells as former England cricketer Isa Guha.

“Good leader always looks after the team as a whole and respects everyone equally and @patcummins30 has shown to be that leader,” former Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul said on Twitter.

One Twitter user said Cummins, in his first series as captain, was a “fantastic role model”. “Take a bow, Captain Cummins. Inclusive, respectful, decent and humble leadership,” the user wrote.

Khawaja smashed a century in each innings of the fourth test in Sydney, where he batted in the middle order for the first time in 2-1/2 years.

Despite scoring six and 11 in the first innings in Hobart, the left-hander concluded the five-match series as the fifth highest scorer.

The Islamabad native was a member of a Cricket Australia working group tasked with enhancing the game’s diversity.