After a very poor performance in their opening game against Kolkata Knight Riders, Quinton de Kock’s century against Royal Challengers Bangalore set the momentum for Delhi Daredevils as they kept on performing brilliantly in the early stages of the tournament. In fact, they were considered one of the serious title contenders but at the business end of the tournament, they failed to replicate their old form as they crashed out of this year’s IPL.
de Kock, who was Delhi’s highest scorer in this edition with 445 runs at an average of 37.08, has said that they have shown their ability to everyone nd taking them for granted would be a mistake.
“Other people have now learnt that they can’t take us too lightly, especially as youngsters,” said de Kock. “We’ve put up a scrap always, as young guys, we’re not just here to keep throwing half-volleys to superstars. We’re here to compete. We’ve tried to make a name for ourselves for next year and years to come. Hopefully, we won’t be taken for granted in the future.”
Delhi Daredevils batsmen failed to deliver against RCB as they could post only a target of only 138. Riding on in-form Kohli’s half-century, RCB chases the target quite easily in the end.de Kock, who top-scored for Delhi with 60 runs ruled the soft dismissal.
“We lost wickets at the wrong time. We also had a couple of soft dismissals. I lost my wicket the wrong time. We were under the pump. It could’ve gone either way, though. If we had got 20 more runs, could’ve got 160. They had good game plans in the death and it was hard to finish off.”
Delhi’s team management kept on changing the team in every match but de Kock defended this strategy saying that the decision was taken collectively by the team.
“We spoke about this at the beginning of the tournament. It was a collective thought as a team that we were going to play the XI that we thought that can take up to an opposing team with regards to their bowlers, spinners because we had a lot of variety,” he explained. “We tried and mixed and matched to complement who we were playing against. I think it’s good that we mixed up. We’ve also learnt now combinations and stuff for the next season.”
On his personal experience in this edition, de Kock said that he is still learning.The left-hander said that he has learnt to play spin better and is very excited to come back next year.
“I’m still learning. I always go out there, trying to do the best I can. Unfortunately, I can’t do it all the time. I still have quite a bit to learn about my own game. The tournament wasn’t too bad. This is the most that I’ve played in the IPL for one season. This is my fourth and I think I missed only one game.
“I’ve learnt how to play spin better. I haven’t had many opportunities in T20 to play spin, quality spin also… playing around different conditions. I know now what the wickets are about and want to come back next year,” he said.