The West Indies tour is very crucial for de Kock’s World Cup preparation.

Zooming in on Quinton’s recent form.

On the 6th of October 2023, I published an article highlighting Quinton de Kock’s lack of hundreds in Cricket world cup and his general performances in a world cup. Quinton de Kock went on to make three hundreds and became one of the best performing batters at that world cup.

The article, De Kock's last dance highlighted De kock’s world cup performances in relation to his performances outside ofthe world cup. I don’t know if Quinny read the article or not but the fact that he set out to do the exact opposite of what the article had highlighted was really good for South Africa.

We are a few weeks away from the T20 world cup, that will be hosted by the USA and West Indies so, here goes nothing. I am going to look at Quinton’s T20 world cup performances in comparison to his performances outside of the world cup. Hope it works like a charm and he scores 3 hundreds again. On a more serious note however, his form building into this T20 world cup is a big worry.

The last 50 over world cup was Quinny’s last chance at two things. It was his last chance at 1, dominating at a 50 overs world cup and 2, at winning a world cup. He achieved at least one of those. This T20 world cup is his last chance at two things also and it’s the same things as before. It is his last chance at dominating at a T20 world cup and at winning a T20 world cup.

Unlike with 50 over cricket, the difference between Quinton’s overall T20I record and his T20 world cup record is not that big. A person can decide on his/her own whether Quinny has been successful at T20I cricket or not.

In T20is, Quinny has batted 79 times, scoring 2227 runs at a strike rate of 137.33. In T20 world cups on the other hand, he has batted just 18 times, scoring 410 runs at 130.99 SR. Even if we were to mention his averages, even though batting averages are less important in this format, the difference is still quite small. He averages 32.53 in T20is and 24.12 in T20 world cups. South Africa might require much more from him if they are to try and make it to the final, at least.

I know the numbers above give hope. Quinny has not been terrible at T20 world cups. However, he has not been in good form for some time now. He has struggled across three T20 leagues and this could be a major concern for South Africa. This is how Quinton de Kock’s recent form looks in T20 cricket:

Big Bash League - 6 innings, 104 Runs at 120.93 SR with a highest score of 38

SA20 - 12 Innings, 213 Runs at 123.12 SR with a highest score of 83*(His only 50+ score in the tournament)

IPL - 11 Innings, 250 Runs at 134.40 SR with a highest score of 81(3 50+)

While his IPL stats for this season may read better than his SA20 and BBL, it is important to note that they were not good enough to keep him in the side. He was dropped a couple of times from the Playing XI by his franchise. The biggest concern is also the fact that he has struggled in a season that was easily a batter’s season.

Coach Rob Walter and South Africa fans will be hoping to see the same De Kock we saw at the 50 over world cup. He looked very different to the De Kock we were used to seeing in world cups. The determination on his face, the fire in his eyes, how he walked on the field and how he carried himself in general was different. You could see how badly he wanted to end his career on a bang. He gets another opportunity at the T20 world cup and even though he did not retire from the format, this could be his last T20 world cup.

The West Indies tour will be crucial for Quinton to not only find some form but to push himself back into contention for the starting XI. At the moment, with the form Ryan Rickeltonis in, it would be odd to start with Quinny regardless of the experience he brings to the side. The side is currently not really short on it.

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