Thread by @ovshake42

Test cricket had returned on July 8, 2020.

It was also the day when the English and West Indian cricketers took the knee to support the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Australian national cricket team has not taken the knee yet.

They may, during this tour. I hope they do.
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A more famous incident was the Black Power Salute at the Mexico City Olympics of 1968.

The stance is among the most iconic in the history of all sports.

England and West Indies taking the knee together does not seem as iconic...
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Until you read about the combined past of the two nations and think.

But these are the moments that were photographed, and thus, celebrated more.

One iconic stance against racism we do not talk about much took place in 1974.

An Indian stance.
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I am not a tennis person, so I shall keep this simple.

Until then, only four countries had won the Davis Cup – United States, Great Britain, France, and Australasia/Australia.

Australia were the defending champions.

India beat them in the Eastern Zone Final.
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In the semi-final, India beat the Soviet Union comfortably.

The other semi-final was between Italy and South Africa in Johannesburg.

Italy refused to tour South Africa. They wanted to play them in Rome.

South Africa refused. Italy eventually played in Johannesburg and lost.
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The final, too, was scheduled in Johannesburg.

As mentioned, the match would have yielded a new champion.

India had played the final once, in 1966. They had lost to Australia.

It *did* yield a new champion, but not in a way the champions had imagined it to be.
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The South African players got dressed, then collected their award. Nothing happened in between.

That was because India did not travel. They gave a walkover.

Unlike Italy, sporting glory was not enough motivation for India to change their stance on racism.
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It has been nearly half a century. The incident has faded from our memories, possibly because we do not celebrate our history.

In case it matters, it makes *me* very proud. I hope I'm not the only one.

India have never won the Davis Cup (they lost the 1987 final to Sweden).
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Months before the 1974 final, India had a terrible cricket tour of England, both on and off the ground.

The 1974 Davis Cup win might have been to Indian tennis was 1983 or 2007 was to Indian cricket. It might not have been, too, but one cannot rule out the possibility.
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Tennis fans of the do-not-mix-politics-and-sports kind may find India's stance questionable.

The question is perhaps pertinent, but not as much as why South Africa were still allowed to play in 1974.

In a normal world India would have played the final against another nation.
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The cricket world was not above all this, either, until they had to concede in 1970.

As per ICC laws, South Africa's international matches should not have got Test status since they left the Commonwealth in 1961.

As we know, they do have Test status.
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Because England, Australia, and New Zealand wanted it that way.

As if a team refusing to play three out of six possible oppositions was not ridiculous enough.

England and Australia refused to host South Africa in the early 1970s, but South Africa were not fully ostracised.
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New Zealand Women toured South Africa for three Test matches in 1971/72. A tour we do not talk about much.

As late as in 1976, a year before the Gleneagles Agreement, New Zealand sent a rugby team (that led to the Boycott at the Olympics).

India did something major in 1974.
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Today, I sincerely wish we celebrate the incident more than we do.

When books are written on stance against racism in the field of sports, I want to see a chapter on it.