IPL 2023 Eliminator: LSG's decision to drop Quinton de Kock vs MI ...
By India Today Sports Desk: Former SRH coach Tom Moody has said that he was baffled by LSG's decision to drop Quinton de Kock from the playing lineup for the IPL 2023 Eliminator clash against MI on Wednesday.
De Kock has found game time hard to come by this season after missing the initial few games of the tournament due to national team commitments. Kyle Mayers had taken the opener's spot while the South African wicketkeeper was unavailable and put in some good performances.
MI vs LSG IPL 2023 Eliminator: Report | Highlights
De Kock played four matches this season and scored 140 runs at an average of 35.75. However, on Wednesday, LSG decided to drop the 30-year-old for the match in Chennai against MI with Mayers coming to open as the Impact player.
Mayers scored just 18 runs as LSG were bundled out for 101 runs and lost the match by 81 to be knocked out at the Eliminator stage for the second time in two seasons.
LSG skipper Krunal Pandya defended the decision to drop De Kock and cited Mayers' record in Chennai as the reason for the call.
"It's always a tough decision to drop Quinton, he is a world-class batter, Kyle had a good record here so we thought of playing him for today. Their batters played the fast bowlers pretty well so I just thought we could do something new[on starting with the spinners]," said Krunal.
Moody, while talking to Cricinfo, said that he found the decision baffling as De Kock had experience playing in such crunch games. The former SRH coach also said that the South African could have been good behind the wickets as well as Nicholas Pooran was sloppy on the day.
"That does surprise me, because the point I was making around them imploding. You need experience. Quinton de Kock has got more experience than anyone in that Supergiants team sitting in the dressing room."
"Big game, big player. Regardless of what someone has done short-term in Chennai, I would have rather looked at the sample size of 10 years for what he has done in international cricket and IPL cricket against the opponent he is playing."
"I just find it baffling that decision. Ultimately, it was extremely costly as that calm mind out in the middle would have been welcomed. Plus, Nicholas Pooran behind the stumps was sloppy. Quinton de Kock is a far more accomplished keeper than Pooran, who has been fielding for the whole tournament," said Moody.
