Cricket News By TODAYLIVESCORE.INFO - No-one is a racist within our team: Keshav Maharaj. Maharaj is brown. Had his relationship with de Kock been affected by the implications of what happened and didn't happen on Tuesday?
Maharaj is brown. Had his relationship with de Kock been affected by the implications of what happened and didn't happen on Tuesday?
“No-one is a racist within our team.” In other weeks, that might seem a strange thing to say to reporters at a press conference. But, after Tuesday this week, it's a necessary disclaimer for anyone who has been in South Africa's dressing room.
After the squad arrived at the ground on Tuesday to play West Indies in a T20 WC match in Dubai, Quinton de Kock revealed that he would refuse to play in defiance of a CSA directive for all members of the team to take a knee before the game – which de Kock had not done previously.
Forty-five fraught hours later, during which the narrative veered in various directions – including the labelling of de Kock as racist – he changed his mind and said, in a statement, that he would kneel. Whether he does will be seen before the first ball is bowled in South Africa's match against Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Saturday.
For now, we have Keshav Maharaj standing up for the character of his fellow players. “No-one is a racist within our team,” Maharaj said on Friday (October 29). “We all support one another and respect everyone's cultural, religious and spiritual differences.”
As everyday as that will sound to people who don't live in racially riven societies, it isn't in South Africa – the world's most unequal country. The rabid support for de Kock in the face of widespread criticism of his action and inaction was proof enough of that.
“It's been a tough week, but the boys are adult enough to adapt to the situation,” Maharaj said, and sought to try and turn poison into positivity: “The spirits were really high at training today. There was that buzz and that drive back in the team after a long two days. Our focus is back on the cricket.
“We've drawn a lot of inspiration from the way we've reacted to various situations that have been thrown at us in the past. This has made us bond and gel even more strongly. You'll see a lot more energy than you have in the last two games. It has brought together.”
Maharaj is brown. Had his relationship with de Kock been affected by the implications of what happened and didn't happen on Tuesday? Did he feel as if he could still knock on the door of the man who he entrusts with keeping wicket to his bowling?
“I don't have to knock on Quinny's door,” Maharaj said. “We're always in the team room together and chatting. I think he's in a good space. It's been a tough week for him, but he's a very mature character. We're having dinner tonight.”
You have to wonder who will get the bill.
