South Africa player Rassie van der Dussen has said that the team will fully support Quinton de Kock and his return to the team. However, he missed the second game in the T20 World Cup against the West Indies after he didn’t take the knee. Notably, taking the knee is a gesture that shows the support of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement as well.
However, De Kock had been under the scanner after he decided not to take the knee despite CSA’s directive before the match on Tuesday. As a result, he wasn’t featured in the game. However, Rassie van der Dussen said that the team isn’t thinking about that and they are ready to welcome him back. Van der Dussen hopes De Kock will be in form as well.
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The veteran was quoted as saying by iol.co.za: “Quinny is one of the best players in the world. The team will welcome him back with open arms. It is not even a case of him having to ask us. We understood what he did. If he is selected, which I am sure he will be, he will come back like nothing ever happened. Nobody holds any grievances.’Hopefully, he can be in the right frame of mind to deliver those match-winning performances that he has always had and is so valuable to us as a team. More important is having Quinny on the field, and having our brother and friend, and world-class player back on the team.”
Rassie Van der Dussen further added: “Quinny is remorseful, and I can say that in a positive way. Even though he took that decision, everyone understood why he took that decision and we supported him even though the timing wasn’t great the whole day, and it was a bit chaotic to the match, but we all supported him.
Dussen also shared how the South African team has become an open environment now. However, South Africa managed to beat the West Indies by eight wickets after losing to Australia in their first game. They will take on Sri Lanka on Saturday in Sharjah as well.
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‘That speaks volumes for where we are as a team and a management group that we don’t judge and accept and think for themselves and make their own decisions and we respect that. The team is always an open environment. He didn’t even have to explain himself to us, because we accept people for who they are. Our team is a safe space,” Rassie Van der Dussen concluded.
