T20 World Cup 2021: Quinton de Kock withdraws from SA vs WI game after CSA's directive to take a knee

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 has seen a big step taken by the ICC and all the cricket boards in showing support to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. So far, we have seen several nations take the knee to show and commend their support to the movement. As a matter of fact, in the India-Pakistan game, we saw both the teams do something similar. 

While the Indian players took the knee, we saw the Pakistan players keep their hands on their hearts to show their support. Having said that, the topic is slightly tricky when it comes to South Africa. Most of the players have taken the knee in several matches before, except for Quinton de Kock. When he sat out of the important fixture against West Indies, the speculations emerged. 

The incident started after fans and experts looked at the fact that de Kock doesn’t ever take the knee. It had been a topic of discussion for some time, but on the world stage, it became something of an issue. CSA went ahead and released a statement giving a directive to all the players to take the knee, after which the news of de Kock not playing came. 

Cricket South Africa made it mandatory for everyone to take the knee

Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik posted a tweet in which he also reckoned, De Kock not taking a knee could be the reason for him not playing in the SA vs WI game. In the past, de Kock has never taken a knee but it has always been a case that everyone should have their personal choice. However, with the CSA giving a clear directive, to make it mandatory and then de Kock dropping himself out, the speculations had to emerge. 

At this point in time, it is unclear if the wicketkeeper batter who is a crucial member of the side will continue this campaign or not. Heinrich Klaasen was given the gloves while Reeza Hendricks was brought in as an opener to fill the shoes of de Kock. His future at the tournament remains uncertain at this point. Interestingly, Klaasen who had previously not taken the knee, took it after the directive came from CSA. 

At an online press conference on June 12 this year, during South Africa’s Test series against the Windies in St Lucia, de Kock didn’t open up about his reason saying, “My reason? I’ll keep it to myself. It’s my own, personal opinion. It’s everyone’s decision; no one’s forced to do anything, not in life. That’s the way I see things.”