South African cricket star skips World Cup match after team was asked to take a knee against racism

• South African cricket player Quinton de Kock skipped Tuesday's Twenty20 World Cup match.
• Cricket South Africa had asked the entire team to kneel before the game to take a stance against racism.

South African cricket player Quinton de Kock skipped Tuesday's Twenty20 World Cup match against West Indies after his team was asked to kneel before the game to take a stance against racism.

De Kock, a stumper-batsman, made a "personal decision" to skip the game, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said in a statement on Twitter.

"The Board will await a further report from team management before deciding on the next steps," CSA said. "CSA thanks all other Proteas players for agreeing to unite and make such an important public stand against racism."

CSA had told players on Monday that they were required to kneel before the game.

"This is also the global gesture against racism that has been adopted by sportspeople across sporting codes because they recognize the power of sport to bring people together," CSA had said, according to a statement seen by The Guardian.

De Kock has not publicly made a statement about his decision to skip Tuesday's game.

He has, however declined to kneel before matches previously, saying it was a "personal opinion."

"No one is faced to do anything," he said in June, according to the Guardian.