De Kock’s Presence Mirrors Rohit and Kohli’s Impact, Says Ashwell Prince

Quinton de Kock is set to feature in the upcoming ODI series against India, and his presence has given South Africa a lot of hope. Having recently reversed his international cricket retirement, Quinton de Kock has made a resounding comeback in ODI cricket. He performed exceptionally well during the Pakistan ODI series, scoring 239 runs in three matches at an average of 119.5.

The comeback of de Kock has prompted South Africa’s batting coach to make a bold statement. He said that de Kock’s presence has an impact similar to that of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the Indian team.

"I think he's big, he's massive. With Rohit [Sharma] and Virat [Kohli] coming to the Indian team, I think Quinny probably has a similar effect coming into our team with his experience, with his quality that we saw in Pakistan.” said South African batting coach, Ashwell Prince.

He said that Quinton de Kock’s presence has boosted the morale of the dressing room. He added that de Kock will serve as a guiding light for all the young left-handers who are currently playing in the South African lineup.

"His presence definitely boosted the dressing room and we got quite a few young left-handers and just quite a few young players in the team.” said Ashwell Prince at the pre-match press conference.

“For them to sit around and have a few conversations with him and also be out with him in the middle and bat with him, I think that does a lot for their growth - being able to bat with him out in the middle. So he is a big influence for us." added Ashwell Prince.

Marco Jansen Tasked with Making an Impact Down the Order

Speaking about Marco Jansen, he said the all-rounder is currently batting in the lower order, which means he needs to score runs quickly. With that in mind, he advised Jansen to have a clear plan on how to approach the challenge in the upcoming matches.

"I think what's important for Marco is clarity about how he bats. When you're batting at No. 8, No. 9, generally you don't have a lot of partners. So for him… once he gets in, he needs to score quickly, because he's only got one or two partners to come. So playing an aggressive role is something that we discussed.” said Ashwell Prince.

He then elaborated that Jansen did pretty well during the recently concluded test series. The way in which he bowled was exceptional, and he utilized the conditions perfectly. So, in the upcoming matches, he and other bowlers will need to assess the conditions quickly to make an impact in the game.

“And then to follow that up with the ball in the way that he did. Again, we talk about assessing the conditions. When we come to India, we don't expect the pitches to bounce as much as that one did. So we assess this communication between our batters and our bowlers.” said Ashwell Prince.

“And our batter's feedback was that the bounce is quite steep. Maybe we should look to use the bounce more than what we anticipated. And the bounce was quite steep and it was difficult to handle… Therefore, we say adapting to what is in front of us is the most important thing." concluded Ashwell Prince.