Quinton de Kock faces challenges with inconsistency in the IPL for Mumbai Indians, despite a standout century, as he battles for a secure spot in the first XI amid limited game time and low scores. Picture: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP
Image: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP
Inconsistency has often plagued the career of the wildly talented Quinton de Kock, and it seems that again is the case for the Proteas star in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).
It has to be said, he has had limited game time for the Mumbai Indians (MI) as they opted to go with Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma in their first four matches of this year’s edition. With certain starter Sharma out through injury since April 12, it’s opened a door in the MI side.
In De Kock’s first match of the season, he opened alongside his Proteas teammate Rickelton. In that match against Punjab Kings in Wankhede on April 16.
As Rickelton fell early, De Kock went on to score a masterful ton and ended unbeaten on 112 from just 60 balls. Since then though, he’s scored 13 and 7.
For Rickelton, that was his last appearance to date for MI. In his five knocks, he made two good scores - 81 and 37 - while the rest were single-digit efforts.
For De Kock now, he will also have to be concerned about how long MI will keep him in the first XI if his low scores continue for more than a few matches.
However, MI are likely to stick with De Kock as he is vastly experienced and his reputation alone will give him some leeway.
It will be a tad worrying for De Kock as his form in the T20 World Cup in February and March was also fairly inconsistent. While he made more starts with only two single-figure scores in eight matches, he only had two knocks where he made over 25 (59 v Afghanistan and 47 v West Indies).
Taking all this recent form into account, it will indeed be interesting to see how De Kock goes and if MI will stick with him if he continues with a few more low scores.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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