India’s all-rounder Hardik Pandya became the first 2020 Indian Premier League player in the UAE to kneel down to show his support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Pandya made the gesture during the 2020 IPL match of the Mumbai Indians against Rajasthan Royals in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
The right-hander snapped an undefeated-60 runs on 21 balls in the game to help my total to 195/5 in 20 overs. On the penultimate ball of Mumbai innings, Pandya hit a six, then went to one knee and raised his right arm after reaching half a century into the game. Pandya pointed toward the Mumbai Indians dugout, where IM alternate captain Kieron Pollard responded with a raised right fist. (Total IPL coverage 2020)
On Monday, the 26-year-old also tweeted an image of himself kneeling with the caption #BlackLivesMatter.
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Despite Pandya’s heroic deeds with the bat, the Mumbai Indians lost to the Rajasthan Royals by 8 wickets with Ben Stokes breaking an undefeated-100 and Sanju Samson beating an undefeated half-century.
“I thought they hit well. Hardik brought us back into the game with that mid-stage punch. We could have gotten a couple more terrains, but the terrain ended up improving a bit. Their spinners got help from the field, but our spinners couldn’t do that. At the end of the day, someone wins, someone loses, ”Pollard said after the game.
“We just have to go out there and play cricket well. Our bowlers tried, but they played well against the opposition. He (Hardik) came out and scored 60 * in 21, an inning like that and we ended up on the losing end, that’s bad luck, “he added.
MI will face RCB on Wednesday.
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