Australian batsman Usman Khawaja will make a stand about lives lost in the Middle East when steps onto the field for the Test against Pakistan in Perth on Thursday.

The opener, who calls himself the ‘People’s champion’, will reportedly wear shoes with the carefully chosen words ‘Freedom is a human right’ and ‘All lives are equal’ written on the sides.

The slogans do not advocate for any particular side in the war raging between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

However Khawaja, a Muslim, has reportedly been distressed about the scenes coming from war-torn Gaza where more than 17,000 Palestinians have been killed, many of them children.

He has shared videos and photos of the conflict on social media.

Khawaja’s shoes could test the limits of International Cricket Council regulations around political messaging during matches.

Usman Khawaja wore the shoes at training on Tuesday. Photo: Getty

He was photographed wearing the shoes during training on Tuesday and confirmed to a number of media outlets that he would have them on his feet for Thursday’s match.

In October Khawaja posted to X in response to a call for people to stand up for humanity in relation to Gaza.

“Well said brother. Innocents on both sides suffering unfortunately. Particularly those being starved of food and water. There has to be compassion,” he wrote.

Tweet from @Uz_Khawaja