IPL 2022: "It Was Cracking Batting" - Aakash Chopra Lauds Quinton de Kock's Knock For LSG vs KKR

Aakash Chopra has praised Quinton de Kock for playing a combative inning in the wake of being answerable for KL Rahul’s run-out in the Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) IPL 2022 win against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Rahul was run out without confronting a ball when De Kock called him for a non-existent single and afterward sent him back past the point of no return for him to recover his ground. The Proteas wicketkeeper, notwithstanding, compensated for his mix-up by crushing 50 runs off only 29 balls.

Quinton de Kock Was The Match Protector: Aakash Chopra

While investigating the LSG-KKR game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked De Kock’s thump as the game-changing moment. He explained:

“The credit for Lucknow’s win, there will be talk about the bowlers – no doubt they did very well, Avesh Khan got the Player of the Match, Jason Holder had three wickets in his account, there was no bowler who was not successful – but in my opinion the match protector was Quinton de Kock.

 You lost your partner for zero because of your mistake, because you said ‘yes’ and then ‘thank you very much’.”

The former cricketer featured that De Kock’s thump made the Pune surface look more serene than it was. Aakash Chopra observed:

“When you saw the surface, it seemed it had pace and bounce, it was not easy to bat but till the time Quinton de Kock was playing, he showed that it was very easy. 50 off 29 balls – it was cracking batting.”

De Kock scored his runs at a strike rate of 172.41, sending four balls to the rope and three over it. He hung together with a romping 71-run second-wicket partnership with Deepak Hooda after they lost KL Rahul early in the innings.

Aakash Chopra added that two catches during KKR’s innings finished an ideal day for Quinton de Kock. He said:

“Till the time he (De Kock) was there, it seemed 200 was also possible but as soon as he got, we realized that the pitch was very difficult. He took catches also after that, so his job was perfect.”

Deepak Hooda Has Been Absolutely Sensational: Aakash Chopra

The 44-year-old additionally adulated Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, and Jason Holder for taking LSG to a considerable score. Chopra elaborated:

“Deepak Hooda has been absolutely sensational. He is a daring player, he likes hitting a lot, never takes a backward step. Stoinis scored 28 runs but he got to play only 14 balls. Holder scored 13 runs off four balls, he hit two sixes and you reached 176, which I thought was a phenomenal score on the surface.”

The 177-run target demonstrated a lot for the Kolkata Knight Riders. They were bowled out for 101 to lose the match by a gigantic 75-run difference.

Also Read: I Wanted To Play 100 Test Matches, Face Those Fast Bowlers, And Bat For Two Days – Yuvraj Singh