IPL 2020: Hardik Pandya takes a knee in support of ‘Black Lives Matter’ (BLM) Movement, becomes first player in the tournament

IPL 2020: Hardik Pandya takes a knee in support of ‘Black Lives Matter’ (BLM) Movement, becomes first player in the tournament

MI all-rounder Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya MI
MI all-rounder Hardik Pandya

Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya became the first player in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 to take a knee in support of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. This incident took place during MI’s game against Rajasthan Royals at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Sunday. Moreover, Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Jason Holder expressed his disappointment a few days back over the lack of noise surrounding the movement in the tournament.

Pandya found his lost touch back in this game with a mind-blowing knock of 61* runs off just 20 deliveries. His inning included two fours and seven sixes that dismantled the young bowling attack of the opposition.

Also Read | IPL 2020 RR vs MI: Ben Stokes ton and Samson’s fifty stun Mumbai Indians for an 8 wicket victory

“Enjoyed it [60* off 21] a lot. Was waiting for this. Was trying for it but it wasn’t coming. Hard work before this IPL has been fantastic from my side. So I was waiting for that one hit may be to get the rhythm and get back to hitting sixes which I love. I hit a few from the bottom of my bat. The bat which I play with is my favourite bat. I’ve been using it for three years. I love to look after my things. I thought that before this game I was trying to hit in front of my body,” Hardik said after the match.

Royals thrash Mumbai Indians

Ben Stokes and Sanju Samson

Hardik Pandya’s berserk knock goes in vain as Rajasthan Royals beat defending champions Mumbai Indians by eight wickets. Ben Stokes (107) and Sanju Samson (54*) helped their side to chase down a massive total of 196. During the run chase, both the batsmen played some outstanding shots against the quality bowling attack of MI.

With this victory, Steve Smith and co keep their hopes alive for qualifying to the playoffs of IPL 2020. RR need to win their remaining two games to have an outside chance of entering the top four.

Also Read | IPL 2020: RR skipper Steve Smith ‘very pleased’ after a brilliant run chase against Mumbai Indians