Wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock believes that AB de Villiers’ early dismissal can provide a good chance for his present team Mumbai Indians (MI) to win their upcoming match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
RCB and MI will face each other on Thursday (28th March) night at M Chinnaswamy Stadium (Bengaluru). It will be their second game in this season while both teams lost their opening matches of this season.
Before their upcoming match, Quinton de Kock has opened up about the importance of AB de Villiers’ early dismissal for his team. Talking about his former South African teammate, Quinton de Kock believes that AB de Villiers is a big wicket for them.
He said on Wednesday, “AB being AB, he is a big wicket for them. I think if we get him out pretty early, we stand a good chance of doing well in the game. So we have spoken about it — about how we’re going to try and get him out and hopefully it comes off tomorrow. Otherwise, we just hope he (de Villiers) makes a mistake.”
It’s a big game for us tomorrow
MI suffered a 37-run defeat against Delhi Capitals (DC) in their opening game of IPL 2019. After DC managed to score 213/6 (20 overs), MI (176 in 19.2 overs) failed to chase that target in their home venue.
Quinton de Kock believes that their upcoming match against RCB is going to be crucial for them.
He said, “Any big tournament around the world, everybody wants to get off to a good start. Coming into this game, knowing we haven’t won a game, so it’s a big game for us tomorrow. We need to get going with a win and hopefully build some momentum, get things rolling for our campaign this year.”
Coming to bat as an opener, Quinton de Kock scored 27 runs against DC. Talking about the upcoming match, he feels that the RCB side has some good bowlers.
Quinton de Kock said about the RCB bowling line-up, “I have played against Umesh (Yadav), and a couple of their bowlers. When they are bowling well, they are really hard to get going against. They have got some good bowlers in their team that they rely on so we are just going to go out there and see what happens and hopefully just come out on top.”
I am always quite determined to contribute towards the team
MI is the fourth side for Quinton de Kock in his IPL career. Earlier, he also played for Sunrisers Hyderabad (2013), Delhi Daredevils (2014-2107) and RCB (2018). He has played 35 IPL matches where the left-handed batsman has scored 954 runs with an average of 28.05.
Talking about his goal in this tournament, Quinton de Kock claimed that he was determined to contribute his best for his team.
The South African cricketer said, “Playing in this tournament, no matter whom we are playing against or whom I’m playing against, you’re always quite determined to score runs whether that’s RCB, Delhi, Sunrisers whoever. I am always quite determined to contribute towards the team and just get the team over to a winning side. That’s what my goal is and what I wil try and do.”
I think Rishabh Pant is going to be a good investment for India
Quinton de Kock also praised the young Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant. The South African wicketkeeper-batsman believes that Rishabh Pant can be the future of Indian cricket.
“I have played with Rishabh before. I have seen him grow very quickly. He has a lot of power in his shots. He is a very strong boy. I think he is going to be a good investment for India.”
The 21-year-old Rishabh Pant is playing for the Delhi franchise. In their first game of this season, which was against MI, Rishabh Pant was the hero of the match. The left-handed batsman scored an unbeaten 78-run off 27 balls (seven boundaries and seven over-boundaries) in the crucial time of that match. His innings led DC to beat the host side MI comfortably in that game.