AB de Villiers, a South African superstar, has stated that Quinton de Kock’s record-breaking run at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 did not surprise him because he “has always been very special.”
AB de Villiers, a South African superstar, has stated that Quinton de Kock’s record-breaking run at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 did not surprise him because he “has always been very special.” While de Villiers is widely considered as one of the best South African batters in recent years, de Kock has made a name for himself with a succession of outstanding individual performances at the World Cup in India. De Kock already has four centuries to his record, which is tied for the second most by an individual in a Men’s Cricket World Cup, and his 545 runs in seven innings are the most by any South African batter in a single edition of the tournament.
De Kock’s record-breaking streak has come as no surprise to de Villiers, who has always considered his old teammate to be among the best South African players.
“He has always been very special to me since the first day I watched him play,” de Villiers said in India, according to the International Cricket Council.
“Quinnie demonstrated that he was simply a class above everyone else.” I’ve never seen somebody hit the ball on the rise as consistently as he does, and he’s always kept that form.”
“Yes, one or two failures here or there, but he has always had the ability to bounce back,” he said.
De Kock’s four hundreds in India over the last month bring his ODI total to 21, four less than de Villiers’ 25 ODI tonnes during his long and distinguished white-ball career that spanned more than 13 years.
De Villiers even scored 482 runs for his team in the 11th World Cup in Australia in 2015, but de Kock has already exceeded that total during his amazing run in India.
“I think it’s the best I’ve ever seen him play in a World Cup,” de Villiers remarked.
South Africa needs him to give us that solid start as often as possible because it is really good for the middle overs if we get that solid start, he said. With just one loss through seven matches in India and de Kock in fine form, de Villiers believes the Proteas are well on their way to qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals for the fifth time in their history and progressing even further this time, as he appears to be at home and has a point to prove.
“Everyone that was being doubted at the start of the tournament is starting to show form so, all in all, things are coming together and hopefully we will go all the way,” he added.
