Quinton de Kock Opens Up On His Limited-Overs Captaincy Stint With South Africa

South Africa’s new limited-overs captain, Quinton de Kock has opened up on his growth as a captain and feels the Twenty20 side is on the right track for this year’s World Cup in Australia. The ICC T20 World Cup is scheduled to take place in October-November later this year in Australia. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the threat of suspension looms large over the much-awaited tournament.

Quinton de Kock recently replaced Faf du Plessis as the new captain for the Proteas in ODIs. He was later also appointed the skipper of the T20 side as well. After a disappointing run in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019, Cricket South Africa decided to take some major decisions and hence Du Plessis was axed from captaincy.

Du Plessis stepped down from Test and T20I captaincy in February with immediate effect to help facilitate the next generation of leaders within the team. The 35-year-old, who was rested during the ODI and T20 series against England, was selected in the Proteas’ 16-man squad to take on Australia.

Quinton de Kock Opens Up On His Limited-Overs Captaincy Stint With South Africa

“I took it pretty slowly, I am still trying to get a feel of how to go about things. I have learnt quite a bit and I didn’t do too badly,” he said in audio released by Cricket South Africa on Tuesday.

“It was more about taking it step-by-step, not just throwing out what I think straight away to the team. We are busy rebuilding as a limited-overs team, especially ODIs. Twenty20 I think we know what is going on,” de Kock added.

“The series against Australia … we had quite a young team and they had a powerhouse side, so for us to beat them 3-0 was a highlight,” Quinton de Kock further said.

I Want To Score Daddy Hundreds For South Africa: Quinton de Kock

De Kock has emerged as South Africa’s most accomplished batsman in all forms of the game in the past two seasons, and they have become heavily reliant on his runs.

He admits, however, that his goal is to convert more good starts into hundreds. “I played decently, there was a time when I was starting to get grumpy at not converting my starts into big scores, especially in the test series against England,” De Kock said.

“I want to get better, to start scoring big hundreds for the team, that is the most important thing to get going now,” Quinton de Kock further added.

South Africa are scheduled to tour the West Indies for two test matches and five Twenty20 internationals in late July and August, but that, and the World Cup in October, is subject to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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