New Delhi: Quinton de Kock, one of key batsman of South Africa, on Tuesday opted to sit out of West Indies game in the T20 World Cup in Dubai, sending the team management in chaos. Kock decided to miss the game over SA cricket board decided to collectively take to knee before the start of the game against West Indies.
Proteas have remained divided over support for #BlackLivesMatter campaign. In their first match against Australia, some of white players had agreed for taking to knee but De Kock refused to obey.
Following this, Cricket South Africa issued a directive to its players that they must take a knee before the start of remaining matches.
De Kock’s decision to sit out of the game was known during the toss. SA skipper Temba Bavuma announced that de Kock was unavailable due to ‘personal reasons’ with Reeza Hendricks replacing him in the XI.
However, Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik tweeted, “Quinton de Kock not playing because of his stand on BLM [Black Lives Matter] movement,” with an image of de Kock refusing to take the knee.
Quinton de Kock not playing because of his stand on BLM movement ?#BlackLivesMatter #SAvsWI #worldT20 pic.twitter.com/LqC76QKCL3
— DK (@DineshKarthik) October 26, 2021
It may be noted that all teams participating in the World Cup are supporting the BLM movement, launched a year ago and are bowing down on knees before start of matches.
As South Africá saw inconsistencies in its opening match against Australia, the Cricket South Africa (CSA) issued a directive before this match against West Indies. In the directive, it asked all Proteas players to adopt a united stance against racism by “taking the knee” prior to the start of their remaining World T20 matches.
?? Cricket South Africa (CSA) has noted the personal decision by South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock not to “take the knee” ahead of Tuesday’s game against the West Indies.
➡️ Full statement: https://t.co/cmEiA9JZy7 pic.twitter.com/4vOqkXz0DX
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) October 26, 2021
