South African skipper Temba Bavuma was measured in his response when asked about Quinton de Kock's withdrawal from Tuesday's Super 12 match against the West Indies at the ICC Twenty20 World Cup on Tuesday.
"Quinton is an adult. We respect his decision. We respect his convictions," Bavuma said after his team's eight-wicket win.
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De Kock pulled out of the match after a CSA directive made it mandatory for all players to take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. "I don't know how far it's going to develop. I mean, the decision that he (de Kock) has taken is only today, so I can only speak about what has happened today."
Bavuma said the CSA directive, which required all players to take the knee in a united and consistent stance against racism, came on Tuesday morning. "A meeting was convened between a couple of members, and that's where that message was passed on to us," he said.
"I think the trip was about an hour and a half to two hours. In that trip, I guess that's where Quinton made his decision. I found out when we got to the changing room."
CSA has said it "will await a further report from team management before deciding on the next steps."
Asked if de Kock had explained the reason behind not taking a knee to him or anyone in the management, Bavuma said, "I think you've got to appreciate the fact that the instruction came this morning from the board, and there wasn't a great deal of time for us to kind of thoroughly discuss this matter.
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"Unfortunately for us as players, it was a matter of us digesting what we've been told and finding a way for us to move forward.
"We've got a couple of days until our next game, and I think those days will be tough for the group. But I think guys will want to know in terms of his decision, they will use that time to find it out a bit better. You kind of have to respect the decision that Quinton made, whether you agree with it or not."
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