Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya took a knee during Mumbai Indians’ Indian Premier League game against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday and later shared the photograph to express his support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

This was the first time that a player had taken a knee – seen as a gesture of protest, especially against racial injustice – during the ongoing IPL in UAE.

Pandya was on crease during his sensational knock of 60 from 21 balls which took Mumbai Indians to 195/5. However, Ben Stokes slammed an unbeaten century as he and Sanju Samson steered Rajasthan Royals to an eight-wicket win.

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Earlier, West Indies captain Jason Holder said he was disappointed that international teams had dropped the practice of taking a knee to protest against racial injustice during the English cricket season.

“Sometimes it seems it has gone unnoticed, which is a sad thing,” he had said. “I guess it’s for us to re-highlight the importance of it. Covid has obviously attracted a lot of attention around it. Cricket West Indies has done an excellent job in continuing awareness of it.”