OPINION
Follow Us“Imagine watching Quinton de Kock play for the first time,” asked Graeme Swann during Lucknow’s clash against Kolkata. It is quite a valid question.
Until IPL 2022, de Kock had represented four IPL franchises – Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians. He was involved in two title-winning campaigns for Mumbai and possibly could also go down as one of the best wicketkeepers for the Paltans in the history of the tournament.
But never did a franchise put their full faith in the southpaw. Just prior to the 2022 IPL, Mumbai had let him go, like how RCB let him go earlier and that move, ultimately helped Lucknow. But they still had to beat Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi for acquiring the wicketkeeper-batsman.
Before his Lucknow stint, his average read 31.33 at a strike-rate of 130.9, with just one century. However, what goes under the radar, very often with de Kock is his ability to punish the bowlers in the powerplay. So, when Lucknow won the bid for him, it was a deal well worth it.
They were getting a wicketkeeper, a batter and a man, who understands white-ball cricket. Prior to this season, the perception around the South African southpaw was such that he was always going to provide Lucknow the pacy starts but wasn’t the man for big scores.
“I was a spectator today in the last few overs. QdK's batting really well throughout the season. What we lacked in the few games were that the guys who were having good games weren't winning us games. It was great to see how Quinny carried on and batted till the end,” said LSG skipper KL Rahul at the post-match presentation.
On Wednesday (May 18), everything changed. Including the perception that surrounds the South African, who till today had this aura around him of a batter who only provides quick starts but can’t convert it into a big score. Or of one, who would almost all the time end up with a score in the mid-50s and 60s.
Until the encounter against Kolkata, he had scored 362 runs in the tournament, scored boundaries with ease every 5.43 deliveries but never was he all guns blazing. Rather, since that knock for Delhi back in 2016, the South African has never been a trailblazer in the tournament.
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“Just dig deep and bat. Been waiting for a chance like this, haven't really been in this type of form, just happy about it," de Kock said this back in 2016 and it would still be applicable. Despite being a sure-shot starter for all the franchises in the last few seasons, seldom has the South African made such an impact.
Even though it was a good batting wicket, even though it was the shortest format, scoring a century isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Rather, a 140, if you think of it comes very rarely in the Indian Premier League because such is the competition. Such are the bowling attacks and the Knight Riders’ weren’t far away.
In fact, in Umesh Yadav, KKR were blessed with a bowler who can strike immediately with the ball. And he almost did, only for Abhijeet Tomar to make a meal out of it. That was the luck de Kock was chasing after, even though he has been in scintillating form this season, he’s never played an innings of statement.
The first 30 balls, he had only scored 41 runs, a phase where he had to read the conditions, the pitch and definitely had to be aware of KKR’s bowling. It was a bowling attack that had Umesh, Tim Southee, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. More importantly, his weakness and timidity against spin was rather well-known.
Kolkata had one of the best spinners in the competition, Narine. His mystery has been rarely decoded this season. In fact, only two openers have stood that storm and then have taken their chances – Jos Buttler and de Kock. It is only fitting that de Kock had survived and rode his luck on that very storm.
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While his start was sedate, he still cut hard on the dot-ball percentage, with just a total of 21.42% on the night. For several years in the IPL, playing against Quinton meant that teams would introduce spin early. But on Wednesday, none of that worked in Kolkata’s favour. In fact, when the spinners were on, the South African had his skates on and was high-flying.
Throughout the night, he had faced 28 deliveries of spin, smacking 51 runs, with three fours and four sixes, a boundary % of 70.58. When he pulled the switch-hit against Narine, it looked like it was going to be his night. He was fearless. He was strong and stayed true to his plans of attacking and sending shivers down the opponents’ spine.
“It was just a bit of frustration that came out. The last couple of games just the way I was getting out. It was just a bit of release. I didn't know what I was thinking, I was just keeping it in,” admitted the South African, showing how this knock was crucial.
His celebration following the century depicted his knock to perfection – one that released a lot of pressure for the South African. In the last five overs, facing 22 deliveries, de Kock ensured that this knock was one for the ages – scoring 71. SEVENTY-ONE RUNS in 22 deliveries at the death, at a strike-rate of 322.73.
Imagine watching de Kock play for the first time, you would believe that he is a magician, wouldn’t you? Watching him for the nth time, Swann felt that way, so there isn't any harm in you feeling that way.
