Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya won millions of hearts by becoming the first IPL 2020 player to kneel down to show his full support for the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement during his team’s defeat to the Rajasthan Royals at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday (October 25).
In the match, Hardik played an undefeated shot of 60 against just 21 balls to take the Mumbai Indians past the 190-run mark. During his quick hit, Pandya broke seven sixes and two fours as well.
The 27-year-old took aim at the overs from Ankit Rajpoot and Kartik Tyagi and broke 54 of 13 balls from them. Hardik broke his half century in the 19th century and celebrated it by kneeling with his right arm raised to show solidarity against racism and support the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement.
Hardik posted a photo of his gesture on his Instagram and Twitter accounts after the game with the caption “BlackLivesMatter.”
#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/yzUS1bWh7F
– hardik pandya (@ hardikpandya7) October 25, 2020
The ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement gained momentum after the death of an African American man named George Floyd in May of this year, after a police officer, later identified as Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck as he did. they suggested the viral videos. .
Since Floyd’s death, many athletes have come out to speak about their experience with racism.
Also, Sunrisers Hyderabad and West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder had expressed disappointment that cricketers had not discussed BLM at the IPL.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians had to face a crushing defeat after Ben Stokes closed a century to lead the Rajasthan Royals to a complete eight-field victory.
With this victory, Rajasthan Royals have now moved to sixth place in the points table with 10 points, while the Mumbai Indians are still in first place with 14 points.
The Mumbai Indians will face Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Wednesday 25th October.
(with ANI inputs)
.
