“It is all personal”: Mickey Arthur opens up on Quinton de Kock’s decision to not take the knee in T20 World Cup 2021

Mickey Arthur opens up on Quinton de Kock’s decision: The Sri Lankan coach opines on the boiling issue involving the South African cricketer.

The controversy around Quinton de Kock’s surprising decision to not take the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement doesn’t seem to die anytime soon.

While the Cricketing fraternity is divided on the Proteas Wicketkeeper’s decision to rather skip a World Cup game instead of taking the knee, Sri Lankan head coach, Mickey Arthur has lent a soft support to the South African southpaw on the aforementioned issue.

Quinton himself, on the other hand has not come up with a thorough explanation regarding the degree of sensitivity of the matter, which propelled him to take such an extreme step given South Africa’s infamous history with respect to racism.

Mickey Arthur opens up on Quinton de Kock’s decision to not take the knee a personal one 

With unconfirmed reports suggesting de Kock’s future with Cricket South Africa in jeopardy, Sri Lankan head coach Mickey Arthur is of the opinion that the former’s decision (of not taking the knee) is a personal one, while unsure about the degree of the implication for not supporting the vocal humanitarian movement.

Arthur, however, believes  that there should not be any space and tolerance for racism in the sport or the society.

“I don’t know the exact implications of Quinton de Kock not taking the knee. I think it is all personal. But one thing for sure, there is no scope of any sort of racism in cricket or society”, said Arthur while addressing the press ahead of his team’s encounter against Australia on Thursday in Dubai.

Surely it’s down to the individual to decide whether he or she wants to be involved in any movement … A Cricket board should request players to do it but if that individual decides they don’t want too it should not stop them playing the game of Cricket … #T20WorldCup #DeKock

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) October 26, 2021

Arthur was also quite vocal about the pool of talent in the current Sri Lankan lot. He was in all praise of the youngsters in Patthum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka and believed that they are capable of emerging as the future leaders. “I haven’t seen better batting talents than Pathum Nissanka & Charith Asalanka in Sri Lanka. And I have seen all the players including the U-19 guys, who are also exciting bunch. Pathum and Charith are going to be leaders”, exclaimed Arthur.

Sri Lanka won their opening fixture of the Super 12 stage by 5 wickets while chasing a competitive total of 171 posted by Bangladesh.