The decision of Team India players to take the knee to lend support to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement was done following a request to the squads ahead of the T20 World Cup.

“We gave all teams the option. India chose to do on Sunday before the start of their first match against Pakistan,” an ICC spokesperson told The Telegraph.

Virat Kohli said the decision was communicated to them by the team management. “That was communicated to us by the management. The Pakistan team agreed to pay their tribute to the same cause. We accepted our side of things and that was how it was decided,” the India captain said at the post-match news conference.

While openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul took the knee near the pitch along with the Pakistan players, the rest of the squad members followed the gestures near the boundary ropes in support of the movement against racial discrimination.

England and West Indies also took the knee on Saturday, before their Super 12 opener. It is still not clear if the Indians will repeat this gesture before every match in the tournament. “We will decide about it when the time comes,” a source close to the team management said.

This is the first time that the Indian cricket team has been part of the BLM movement since the practice of taking the knee became widespread in sport after the death of George Floyd in the United States in May 2020.

The West Indies and England cricket teams have often taken the knee before their matches in support of the movement since Windies’ Test tour of England in July 2020.