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Quinton de Kock doesn't want team to lose sleep and 'prepare for the worst' on India tour
South Africa will begin their tour with a three-match T20I series, the first of which will be held at Dharamsala on September 15 and followed by a three-Test series beginning with the first game at Visakhapatnam on October 2.
After a disastrous World Cup in England and departures of important players from the side, South Africa will be looking to get back on track on tour of India. The Proteas will begin their tour with a three-match T20I series, the first of which will be held at Dharamsala on September 15 and followed by a three-Test series beginning with the first game at Visakhapatnam on October 2.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock who will be the skipper for the T20 series in absence of Faf du Plessis said that he doesn’t want his team to lose sleep over an expected spin threat but warned the players to “prepare for the worst” during their tour of India this month.
“From our side‚ what we are going to do is to make sure that we prepare for the worst,” said De Kock. “To be honest‚ I don’t know what we are going to get. In T20s I don’t think it will spin that much because in the IPL they prepare pretty good wickets.
“But Test matches are a different story and it could end up turning on day one. It is more of a mental thing and not being caught up too much on whether it is spinning or not‚ that is what it boils down to.”
When the South Africans toured India last time around lot of questions were raised regarding the quality of pitches with the Tests at Mohali and Nagpur not even lasting five days. The Nagpur pitch had received ‘poor’ rating from the ICC.
“The last time we were there‚ guys didn’t really expect those type of surfaces but this time around we will have a little bit of head start about that‚” De Kock said. “We will keep our eyes open and make sure that we are a little bit better than last time. I am not sure if they are going to prepare similar or better wickets than the last time we were there.”
