“I think ‘Quinny’ just needs to back himself”
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Quinton de Kock is known for being one of South Africa’s most explosive batsmen, but lately he has been kept under wraps by veteran New Zealand spinner Jeetan Patel.
In the last two ODIs of the recent five-match series against New Zealand, De Kock was dismissed by Patel for a golden duck and six runs respectively.
In the first Test in Dunedin, the 24-year-old continued to have issues when going up against Patel as he was removed for 10 and four runs respectively.
With some believing that De Kock has become ‘Jeet’s Bunny’, the Johannesburg native’s team-mates think otherwise.
“I think ‘Quinny’ just needs to back himself,” Proteas opener Dean Elgar said. “He’s a naturally gifted cricketer and he just has to have that mindset from now on.
“The welcoming thing is that the families arrive soon so I think it’s going to be a good thing for him to get away from the game. He just needs to trust his cricket ability and we’ve just got to give him a bit of love.”
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis added that after De Kock’s disappointing performance in the first Test, which ended as a draw, he is backing wicketkeeper-batsman to regain his form in the last two Tests of the series.
“You can look at the stats and see that he (Patel) has gotten him out a few times, but for me when you have the quality of Quinton de Kock, you have to back his skill to survive,” Du Plessis said. “If you had a guy who wasn’t that skilful, I would be worried but a guy like with that much talent – you’d back him to find his way.”