South Africa’s Quinton de Kock is back in the playing XI for the Proteas after his U-turn on the matter of taking the knee.
Quinton de Kock, like he promised, also took the knee with the rest of the players ahead of their Super 12 game against Sri Lanka.
The wicket-keeper batter had previously made himself unavailable for the game against the West Indies after defying a Cricket South Africa directive to take the knee at the World Cup.
Earlier in the week, the 28-year-old issued a statement to apologise to his teammates and fans and also agreed to take the knee until the remainder of the World Cup.
"I would like to start by saying sorry to my teammates, and the fans back home.
I never ever wanted to make this a Quinton issue. I understand the importance of standing against racism, and I also understand the responsibility of us as players to set an example.
If me taking a knee helps to educate others, and makes the lives of others better, I am more than happy to do so," the CSA statement read, on behalf of de Kock.
In his long and touching statement, the senior SA cricketer also expressed his unhappiness at the way CSA had gone about things, explaining that such a decision should have been dealt with before the tournament had started.
His actions against WI had sent the cricket world into a melt down with many coming down heavily on him for his defiance.
Earlier in June, during South Africa's Test series against the West Indies in St Lucia, de Kock refused to explain his inaction: "My reason? I'll keep it to myself. It's my own, personal opinion. It's everyone's decision; no-one's forced to do anything, not in life. That's the way I see things."
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