Hardik Pandya took a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement after hitting a 20-ball half-century during the Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians IPL 2020 match at Sharjah on October 26 (Sunday). Pandya smashed the joint third-fastest half-century this season and immediately took a knee and showed solidarity with the BLM movement. He is also the first player in Indian Premier League (IPL) season 13 to take a stand against the racial discrimination and social injustice against the black community. CSK Out of IPL 2020 Playoffs, MS Dhoni-led Side Misses on Final Four Berth for the First Time in Indian Premier League History.

Pandya was in full song against Rajasthan Royals and smashed the bowlers for seven sixes and two boundaries in his 21-ball stay at the crease. He took 27 runs each off Ankit Rajpoot’s 18th over and Karthik Tyagi’s final over to help Mumbai Indians post a mammoth total on the scoreboard. He reached the landmark in the penultimate ball of the innings and immediately took a knee and raised his fist to show his support for the BLM movement.

Hardik Pandya Shows Solidarity Towards BLM Movement

 

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#BlackLivesMatter

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He later shared a picture of him taking the knee and captioned it ‘#BlackLivesMatter’. Pandya’s effort to show solidarity with the BLM movement earned him enormous praise online. The BLM movement had gained momentum following the death of an African-American man George Floyd in May earlier this year after a white police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck despite the man crying out for help and saying he couldn’t breathe.

Since then, the BLM movement has gained front with many sportspersons and eminent personalities also joining the call to support the BLM movement. A day earlier, West Indies Test captain and Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Jason Holder had expressed his disappointment over no cricketers in the IPL taking a knee. “To be honest, I haven’t had one conversation up here around it (BLM). Sometimes it seems it has gone unnoticed, which is a sad thing,” Holder had said in a video shared on the cricket West Indies website.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 26, 2020 09:46 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).