Quinton de Kock raring to go as South Africa skipper in upcoming T20 series against India

Sudhir Gupta 18:19 11/09/2019
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  • Quinton de Kock.

    Quinton de Kock is raring to go as captain of a young South Africa squad ahead of their three-match T20 series against hosts India which begins at Dharamsala on Sunday.

    The Proteas are without their regular skipper Faf du Plessis for the limited-overs clashes with De Kock set to lead the side in his absence.

    “Coming into this series, we’ve got a lot of new players,” the stand-in South Africa skipper stated in a press conference on Wednesday.

    “Win or lose, I just want the guys to keep competing, keep fighting. As long as they keep doing that, I’m sure we’ll be in good hands.

    “We’ve got quite a young team, so there will be a lot of energy. Looking forward to that.”

    The India tour is the first international assignment for South Africa since their dismal campaign in the 2019 World Cup in England where they finished a dismal seventh in the 10-team competition. That poor campaign has subsequently seen Hashim Amla retire from international cricket while veteran pacer Dale Steyn has hung up his Test boots.

    The Proteas has also parted ways with head coach Ottis Gibson with 36-year-old Enoch Nkwe installed as the tea director for the tour of India. The young team director has hailed the potential of the squad at his disposal and believes that Quinton de Kock could be a long-term skipper of the side in the future.

    “I strongly believe that we have a good enough squad. We have a good leader here,” Nkwe said.

    “It’s also an opportunity to start building for the future. We know where Faf stands, as a captain and as a player. He’s done great things for South African cricket. We also need to look at what the future looks like.

    “We believe in Quinton, who’s going to be leading the team in this series.”

    The visitors have their task cut out against an India team which thrashed them 6-1 in an ODI series in South Africa last year while they also tasted a loss against the Men in Blue in the recent World Cup. Despite India’s formidable home record, Nkwe is confident that his side can still walk away with a series win.

    “If you look at the group of guys, we’ve got good enough experience,” he said.

    “The captain himself has played a lot of cricket here in India. We’ve got fresh blood that is coming into the squad and that’s very exciting. We’ll be competitive. We want to walk away with a series win. The entire squad is very determined.

    “We’re here to win. We understand that the opposition is strong in their backyard, but that’s something we’re going to leave on the park. We’re going to give 100 per cent.”

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