Australian men’s cricket team vice-captain Pat Cummins on Monday said that the squad will form a “barefoot circle” before the upcoming series against India to show opposition to racism and honour Aboriginal culture.

Cummins said that the decision was taken within the team that was criticised by West Indies’ former player Michael Holding for not taking a knee during a tour of England in September.

“We think it’s really important to do our bit and we’ve decided to do the barefoot circle,” Cummins told reporters.

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“Not only as a sport but we as people are absolutely against racism,” he added.

The 27-year-old cricketer said that the men’s team would introduce it for the India tour and make it a pre-match ritual at the start of a series.

The practice of gathering in a circle barefoot on the pitch before a series was introduced by the Australian women’s team this year at the urging of all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner, who has Aboriginal heritage.

The act of placing a knee on the ground was made famous by former American NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who first did so in 2016 to protest police brutality against Black people and other minorities.