Quinton de Kock

Every once in a while, usually a very long while, there comes a player who manages to capture your imagination. Quinton de Kock is one such talent from South Africa. Some of the feats which he has accomplished at his age are unfathomable and it's easy to see why he was being heralded as a future great. Not only is de Kock one heck of a batsman, but the value he brings to the side by donning the gloves is tremendous. But de Kock’s story in international cricket has panned out to be a collection of what-ifs.

De Kock went to King Edward VII High School, the same school which Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie attended. He rose to prominence as part of the South Africa U-19 side and ended up as his team's highest run-scorer during the 2012 U-19 World Cup in Australia. Later that year, playing for the Lions in the Champions League T20, de Kock caught the eye of a larger audience with a sparkling knock to help his team over the line against Mumbai Indians.

It paved the way for him to make it to the national team in a T20I series against New Zealand two months later, as AB de Villiers wanted a break. However, international success didn't come early for de Kock. It was only a year later, when he scored those three successive ODI hundreds against India, that people started taking notice of his humongous talent.

He was pretty much in and out of the side for the rest of the year until he came up against once more and solidified his position with a couple of hundreds in a five-match ODI series.

He didn't have a memorable 2015 World Cup as an ankle injury threatened to jeopardize de Kock's participation. But the then 22-year-old made it back in time for the mega event. His form though eluded him right through the tournament. Opening the innings for South Africa, he crossed the score of 20 just twice in eight matches.
At this point, it had been a little under two years of de Kock making his Test debut. He never really made the spot his own. Despite the ODI success in India, Dane Vilas was chosen over him to be the wicketkeeper in the following Test series. However, it was the year 2016 which de Kock truly made his own and produced performances which would go on to evoke comparisons with a legend like Adam Gilchrist.

Hitting a purple patch during the middle of the year, de Kock became the fifth South African to score five fifty-plus scores in a row, a streak which culminated with a match-winning hundred against Australia at Hobart which sealed the series for the visitors. De Kock's style of play in the previous Test at Perth, where he made counter-attacking fifties, followed by Hobart, revived great memories of their own legendary wicketkeeper batsman for many Australian supporters.

Not just the Test format, de Kock thrived in limited-overs cricket too in 2016. He started off with a couple of hundreds against England at home before emerging as South Africa's highest run-getter in the World T20 to be named in the ICC's team of the tournament. Later in the year, he played perhaps his most memorable ODI knock to date as he destroyed Australia with a during a 113-ball 178 at Centurion.
In a series against Bangladesh in 2017, de Kock shared an unbeaten 282-run partnership with Hashim Amla and it became a record for the highest opening partnership in ODI cricket. De Kock continued to flourish in South African colors and with the retirement of some of their legends like AB de Villiers, he became an even more vital part of their lineup. He was part of South Africa’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup but had middling returns with 305 runs from 8 games.

De Kock’s skill set and consistency made him a highly sought after player in the world of franchise cricket. By 2021, he’d already played for four different IPL teams and had already won two titles with the Mumbai Indians. As T20 contracts grew more lucrative, de Kock was signed by teams in The Hundred, CPL, MLC and the SA20. With so many commitments on his plate, to the shock and disappointment of many, de Kock announced his retirement from Test cricket in December 2021 aged just 29.

He was a part of South Africa’s 2021 T20 World Cup squad but landed in controversy when he made himself unavailable for selection for their game against the West Indies after refusing to take the knee. De Kock later apologized and clarified his position and went on to take the knee and play the rest of the games. He was also a part of the following 2022 T20 World Cup and had middling returns.

In 2023, de Kock was named in South Africa’s squad for the Cricket World Cup but he shocked the world once again saying he would retire from ODI cricket after the conclusion of the tournament. Citing reasons of wanting to spend more time with his family and that it was “time to get a final top-up in T20 leagues” as he entered what he called the “slope of his career”. This meant that de Kock’s sole focus rested on T20 cricket now, both international and franchise. De Kock made himself available for the 2023 edition of the BBL.