Bizarre video shows Australia batsman Usman Khawaja grabbing his teammate Adam Zampa's buttocks during pre-match national anthem before the 2nd ODI against New Zealand last week
Australia's Usman Khawaja grabs Adam Zampa's butt during pre-match national anthem.
Wellington: A video footage emerged on Wednesday showing Australia batsman Usman Khawaja becoming touchy-feely and progressively moving his hand down to teammate Adam Zampa's buttocks before the second One-Day match against New Zealand last week.
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It happened when the teams stood with arms linked during the national anthems, presumably to test the debutant's composure, and giving him an unusual "welcome" to the side.
Australia's Usman Khawaja grabs Adam Zampa's butt during pre-match national anthem.
Zampa was easily identifiable as he wears the number 63 on his jersey in honour of Phillip Hughes, who died in November 2014 after he was struck in the neck by a ball and suffered a subarachoid haemorrhage.
Khawaja replaced Shaun Marsh as the opener for the game, while leg-spinner Zampa was making his international debut in the second Chappell-Hadlee Trophy ODI in Wellington.
New Zealand sports show 'The Crowd Goes Wild' spotted the incident and posted the 12-second clip on its Facebook page.
To his credit, Khawaja was able to see the funny side of the footage being widely shared on social media.
Zampa was not put off by his teammate's affections, claiming two wickets on debut in a strong performance that helped him into Australia's squad for the World T20 in India.
Later on, Khawaja wrote on Twitter that it was a joke being played on the debutant.
"hahaha oh boy. Didn't realize there were cameras filming from behind," Khawaja tweeted on Wednesday.
"haha it was all consensual. Just having a joke with the debutant," the batsman said in second tweet.
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