Team 'surprised' at Quinton de Kock's refusal to take a knee: Temba Bavuma

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma admitted that he and his teammates were “surprised and taken aback” by opener Quinton de Kock’s refusal to take a knee, before withdrawing from the T20 World Cup 2021 fixture against West Indies. However, Bavuma is not certain over why exactly De Kock is against the gesture in support of antiracism. The opener is expected to release a statement explaining his decision. The South Africa captain has urged his team to respect De Kock’s decision till that point.

“Surprised and taken aback by the news”

“As a team, we are surprised and taken aback by the news. Quinton is a big player for the team, not just with the bat, but from a senior point of view, so not having this at my disposal, as a captain, is obviously something I wasn’t looking forward to. In saying that, Quinton is an adult. He is a man in his own shoes. We respect his decision, we respect his convictions, and I know he will be standing behind the decision he has taken. Before getting on the bus to travel to Dubai, that message was passed on to the players,” said Bavuma in an interaction with media following the triumph against West Indies, as quoted by Cricinfo.

“I found out as the captain when I got to the changing room. There wasn’t a great deal of time for us to thoroughly discuss this matter. Unfortunately, it was a matter of us digesting what we’ve been told and finding a way to move forward. Unfortunately, we had to get the job done. There was still a game of cricket for our country. It was important that as much as everything was happening we found a way to get into the right mental space and take it home for our country,” he added.

“Quinton is an adult”

Bavuma said the players are interested to know more about the decision from De Kock.

“We have a few days before the next game and I think those days will be tough for the group. Guys who want to know in terms of his decision, will use that time to find out a bit better. Quinton is an adult. He made his decision. You have to respect it, whether you agree with it or not. As much as you have the choice to decide what you want to do, you can’t escape the consequences of the choices and decisions we make. If there are people out there who think certain people need more clarity, then the fans, the media, it’s best that you ask those guys directly. It becomes blurry when you are asking guys about other guys. If you are really wanting to get the clarity that you seem to want, you should probably ask those individuals themselves,” he stated.

Bavuma believes that the players were not simply disappointed that one of the group could not make a gesture as taking a knee. It was more complex in comparison.

“I don’t think it as simple as just taking a knee. We have to appreciate that we live in a country like South Africa that has its own past, that is diverse in its views, diverse in the way people see things, and their backgrounds and decisions that we take, things that we support, are based on our own convictions. As much as we are a team, we wear the same shirt, we play for the same badge, outside of that we still live our own lives and those lives are different by the very nature that we live in South Africa,” said the South Africa captain.