– Cape Town Former South African opener Herschelle Gibbs believes that Quinton de Kock must be dropped prior to Sunday’s second Twenty20 International against India in Guwahati.
De Kock has been in poor form in Twenty20 Internationals, as evidenced by his dismissal for one in the opening T20I of the series in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
Left-handed batsman’s feet were jammed in the crease as he attempted to hit a ball outside the off stump sent by Arshdeep Singh. As a result, De Kock could only manage an inside edge as he sliced the ball onto his stumps, a scenario that has been all too common over the past year.
In 13 matches since the start of last year’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, where De Kock was the center of attention for withdrawing from the West Indies match because he refused to comply with Cricket South Africa’s directive to take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement, he has only scored 137 runs at an average of 11.41 with a highest score of 34 against England in Sharjah.
In his comfort zone, it will be a smart idea to drop him. Nobody is indispensible
— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) September 29, 2022
“The difference in yesterday’s Twenty20 was that Indian bowlers swung the ball and ours did not, and that their batters played conditions more intelligently. Reeza will replace Quinny in the next game. He (De Kock) hasn’t made runs .. reeza must jol, “Gibbs published a social media post.
At his best, De Kock is one of the most explosive openers in white-ball cricket, as evidenced by his aggressive 140 not out off just 70 balls for the Lucknow Super Giants in the 2018 Indian Premier League.
Due to these types of innings and the fact that De Kock is the Proteas’ first-choice wicketkeeper, many have disregarded his dismal form in T20Is and held out hope that he is only one innings away from recovering his spark before the T20 World Cup in Australia next month.
Gibbs, however, believes that the sand has run out for De Kock and that Heinrich Klaasen might replace him behind the wickets if the Proteas play only one spinner.
“He is within his comfort zone… Eliminating him will be a terrific wake-up call. Nobody can’t be replaced “He posted a message. “Reeza for the final two Twenty-Twenty games and let Quinny establish form in the ODI series.”
In all honesty, the conditions at Greenfield Stadium were hardly suited to free-flowing T20 strokeplay, as Singh and Deepak Chahar took full advantage of the green pitch and overcast skies to swing the ball prodigiously.
Not only did De Kock suffer at this period, as the Indian new ball reduced the Proteas to 9/5 after just 15 balls of their innings, but the entire team did.
Gibbs, who faced the new ball in Test and limited-overs cricket for the Proteas for more than a decade, believes it is an opener’s responsibility to adapt to the conditions, as India’s KL Rahul (51 not out) demonstrated during his team’s pursuit.
“There was nothing wrong with the pitch,” Gibbs wrote. “India batted wiser and won easily in the end.”
“Remember that in Twenty20, hitters must improvise regardless of whether the ball swings or not. It is your responsibility and expertise to discover a way to score under any circumstances.”
@ZaahierAdams