Quinton de Kock is one of the few players in world cricket who can take the game away from the opposition in a jiffy.
A team man
Quinton de Kock was obliging enough to take on the role of the South African captain even though he did not really want to do it full time after Faf du Plessis decided to step down.
He was the stop-gap solution before Temba Bavuma was made the white ball captain and Dean Elgar took over as the test captain of South Africa.
De Kock, who had no real ambition of leading South Africa in the long term, helped the team to a couple of memorable victories and also delivered with the bat.
"Captaining South Africa was pretty cool," is how Quinton de Kock describes his experience of leading South Africa as a stand-in captain last year. "I didn't think too long about field positions or bowling changes. It wasn't tough at all. Captaincy isn't exactly rocket science. People can say what they like but I'm living my best life. If you're the kind of person who feels brave insulting a stranger behind a keyboard, that says more about you than it does me."
An introvert
It is an open secret that de Kock is not the most expressive person on the camera and likes to do things his way.
He has his method and his style but he isn't very articulate in putting it into words, which is why his commitment comes under the scanner time and again, which is quite silly to be honest.
"Me and books don't get along. I didn't need school or university to get where I am today. We joke in the dressing room that I might not have graduated from high school but I have a master's degree in cricket. It was a long discussion about my future but my decision was already made up," de Kock says. "I was offered a contract that would make any 17-year-old's eyes water. My parents were on board and we decided to pull the plug on school and invest everything I had in cricket. I have no regrets. Things have turned out all right"
Star for MI
Quinton de Kock has an excellent record across all three formats in international cricket and has played some valuable knocks for Mumbai Indians at the top of the order.
His opening partnership with Rohit Sharma has won MI several games. One looks forward to more of the same from Quinton de Kock in the times to come.
