The proteas are on the back foot and are looking to avenge their defeat in the first ODI. South Africa faced a 39-run defeat in the first ODI at Bloemfontein, via the Duckworth Lewis Method. Amidst the setback, Quinton de Kock’s impressive knock of 138 runs kept the crowd on their feet.

The wicket-keeping sensation from South Africa – De Kock has made a name for himself in his early days of cricket. The 23-year-old cricketer has already played 53 matches and his impressive figures are just the tip of the iceberg.

Johannesburg-born wicket-keeper batsman has shown similarities to Australian legend Adam Gilchrist, in his style of play. Both the left-handed wicketkeepers when compared in a time-frame, the result is overwhelming. A comparison of their individual career timelines results in overwhelming

parallels. With 53 ODIs (No. of ODIs played by De Kock) as the base of this comparision matrix, lets look at some of the number for both players :

Batting contrast:

In his first 53 matches, Gilchrist scored 1679 runs with a strike rate of 96.94. His average of 35.72 was rather superficial as being an opening batsman throughout his career, he just managed to end his career on an average of 35.89. His highest score – 154 came against Sri Lanka and he struck 5 fifties and 5 ODI hundreds. Even though a specialist in rotating strike, he amassed 166 fours and 20 sixes in his initial days.

De Kock when compared to the former Australian legend, was found leading in all the batting statistics. In his 53 matches, De Kock made 2131 runs with a slightly lower strike-rate of 91.81. His current average is 42.62, and the Proteas are reliant on him for a stable start. His career-best knock of 138 runs (not-out) came on Wednesday, against England in 1st ODI. He has already struck 245 fours and 27 sixes and smashed 5 ODI fifties and 9 centuries.

Wicket-keeping contrast:

In the initial 53 matches, Gilchrist dismissed 73 batsmen from behind the stumps. Out of all his dismissals, 62 were caught behindand 11 were victims of his lethal stumpings. De Kock in near perfect sync, has dismissed 80 batsmen already. He has taken 77 catches so far but looks a little behind Gilchrist in stumping stats, as he has dismissed just 3 till date. Some credit of Gilchirst’s stumping scalps would go to a better spin attack of the Australian team!

Amidst all the similarities between the two, we can see a long career ahead of the South African!

Akash Khanna | FYS