The South African wicketkeeper-batsman, Quinton de Kock has termed the IPL 2019 final as emotional than the 2015 World Cup semifinal against New Zeland. De Kock rated the thrilling win of IPL 2019 final as more emotional than the loss of the 2015 World Cup semifinal. The explosive left-handed batsman was an integral part of the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019.
Starting his IPL career from Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the sixth season of the domestic professional league, the Proteas wicketkeeper emerged in the next season with the Delhi Daredevils (DD) now known as Delhi Capitals (DC).
However, De Kock emerged as the aggressive batsman only in the last season. The South African southpaw helped Mumbai to win their fourth tournament title. He amassed a total of 529 runs throughout the 12th edition of the IPL.
South African Wicketkeeper rated his last IPL season victory more emotional than the previous World Cup semifinal loss
Famous for his ‘babyface’, De Kock in a press conference on late Tuesday rated the IPL 2019 final win as a most emotional moment. The meeting was held a day before the New Zealand clash of this World Cup. In the last World Cup, the two teams fought each other in the first semi-final of the World Cup 2015. New Zealand won the match and left the Proteas cricketers shattered on the field a step before the final.
During the conference, a journalist asked De Kock about the most emotional moment of his cricket career, he replied-
“The second most at the moment. Obviously the IPL final this year was up there. But then, Eden Park obviously…Auckland, it was pretty intense. I experienced it for the first time ever, that vibe that was going through the stadium. It was so noisy. (I was) just trying to concentrate, but it was tough to deal with it.”
Meanwhile, South Africa is facing another crucial World Cup, having won just one out of the five games. It will be a deja-vu moment for the Proteas players while facing New Zealand at the Edgbaston stadium. All the next four matches from now will be a must win for South Africa if they want to be in the game.
Denoting the next game today, De Kock said it would be another exciting game for the team. He said that the victory if they do win, won’t mean anything till they win all the remaining three games as well.
“Tomorrow is a quarter-final, I guess you could say it. But if we do win it, it’s another big game again… We have to win all the games, not just focus on tomorrow,” De Kock told reporters in Birmingham.
After New Zealand, South Africa will march up against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia and India. At present, South Africa is at the eighth position with three points whereas New Zealand stands at the third spot with seven points and three wins.