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As the T20 World Cup is currently underway in Oman and the United Arab Emirates, ahead of the Super 12 stage England cricket team captain Eoin Morgan confirmed that they will take a knee against the West Indies in their first match. The fixture is set to be played at the Dubai International Stadium on October 23.
The gesture, it is to be noted, will be in support of the "Black Lives Matter" movement which became a talking point around the world after a black man named George Floyd was killed by a policeman. While a number of members of the cricket fraternity-both current and former - have talked about racism, when the first series after the COVID-19 pandemic began, players of both the teams came up with this gesture of taking a knee before the start of a match.
We will be joining them for the first game: Morgan
Following that, England were seen repeating the same during their white-ball assignment against Ireland. In the ongoing T20 World Cup, which is the first world cricket event since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Papua New Guinea players did take a knee against Scotland in their Round 1 match but given that England are the number 1 side in the world, their gesture is likely to have a far greater reach.
"We have heard from the West Indies that they will be taking a knee and we will be joining them for the first game," Morgan said in a virtual press conference prior to the Super 12 match against the Caribbean.
Other than England and West Indies, South Africa, Australia, the winner of Group A in Round 1 as well as the runners-up of Group B are part of the Group 1 of the Super 12 stage. On the other hand, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan along with the winners of Group B and the runners-up of Group A in Round 1 are in Group 2 of the Super 12 stage.
The top two teams from Group 1 and Group 2 will proceed to the semifinals the winners of which will be the finalists. The final is set to be played on November 14, 2021 at the Dubai International Stadium.