T20 World Cup 2021: India take the knee, Pakistan place hand on chest, and the reason behind it

Indian Cricket Team players took a knee ahead of their T20 World Cup match against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. The move was in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight against racism.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first. After the national anthems of both teams and before the first ball was delivered, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul took the knee near the pitch. The rest of the squad, including skipper Virat Kohli, did the same in front of the dressing room. Meanwhile, Pakistan players chose to hold their hands on their chests for the same.

The Black Lives Matter movement is a decentralized and socio-political movement that started in 2013. Many sporting teams and players around the world have come forward to show their support with gestures like taking the knee, holding their fists up, etc. Most matches in the T20 World Cup so far have also seen teams take the knee before the first ball.

This was the first time that Indian players took the knee as a squad at a world event.

India got off to a poor start in Dubai

Meanwhile, India got off to a poor start in the match. Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed both openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in his consecutive overs to reduce India to 30/2 after 5 overs. The onus now lies on Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav to get their team to a respectable total.