During the T20 World Cup last year, South Africa batter Quinton de Kock withdrew his name from a game against West Indies, citing personal reasons.
A day before the match, Cricket South Africa(CSA) has issued a directive, asking the Proteas team to adopt a consistent and united stance against racism by taking the knee prior to the start of their World Cup games.
However, De Kock opted out of the fixture instead of following the instruction, supporting the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.
Six months later, Quinton de Kock opened up on the entire episode in an exclusive chat with TOI and said that CSA could've timed their instruction better.
"I would not have done anything differently. We all stand by what we believe in. I know who I am. I know I'm not a bad person. I've got nothing to hide. That's why I wasn't scared," he told the publication.
"I think the board members, or whoever gave that directive [to compulsorily take the knee] could have done things differently, not just smack bang in the middle of a World Cup the morning before a game.
"The pressure was thrown onto the players, which was unnecessary. We had a lot of youngsters in the team."
According to De Kock, modern athletes' ability to impact wider change is at times limited.
He said: "As players we try our best help out any way we can. In all honesty, we're not natural-born activists.
"We're cricketers but at the same time we're also influencers. Maybe we can't change much in the communities, but we can help share awareness."
Quinton de Kock believes that token gestures are sometimes valued more than meaningful interventions.
"There are a lot of people watching us, watching our Instagram, social media, so where we can help out as influencers, we try. But then a lot of players also don't like doing things on social media, they like getting out and doing the hard yards behind closed doors," he said.
"I've seen guys get more applause for a post than guys who are actually going out and making a difference. The communities we help, they can see what's going on."
