Men Who Will Own The Cup: Quinton de Kock

Want to know what Quinton de Kock was thinking when he sent a Mohammad Irfan delivery sailing over long-on to score his first ODI century in November 2013? Or when he ran the single a month later, becoming only the fifth batsman in the world to stack up three successive ODI hundreds? Or when he sidestepped leftward, leapt upwards and stuck out a hand to snatch a ball from the sky to dismiss Luke Ronchi in Mount Maunganui in October?

Absolutely nothing.

By his own admission.

That is not a slight on the 22-year-old South African. Some of the best sportsmen work on instinct. Think Diego Maradona, John McEnroe or Lee Trevino. That de Kock is even mentioned in the same paragraph as those legends should be enough to tell you how much is expected of him. "He is going to be a superstar for us," says Hashim Amla, South Africa's Test captain.

In October 2014, Amla was de Kock's opening partner in ODIs and T20s, and at the time, de Kock was going through a slight slump in form. His previous four scores had all been in the single digits, but Amla still backed him for big things. And with good reason.

In their first 27 ODI innings together, de Kock and Amla accumulated more than 1300 runs at an average higher than 50.00, bettering stats posted by combinations that included Gary Kirsten, Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs. All three of these batsmen have had varying degrees of impact on de Kock's development. Kirsten was de Kock's first international coach, Smith was the man de Kock displaced at the top of the ODI order and Gibbs is the batsman whose style de Kock seems to have adopted.

Although Gibbs has been the least involved in de Kock's career and admitted to "not knowing him that well," he can see the similarities between their styles from the distance of the commentary box. "He also doesn't think too much," Gibbs joked when de Kock reeled off his record run of centuries in late 2013.

"He has got all the shots, and his power play is as good as his touch play, which is what you need to score hundreds. He likes the game going forward and is not shy to hit boundaries even in the middle period," Gibbs says before going on to pick de Kock as one of South Africa's key players at the 2015 World Cup.

Just five months earlier, it had seemed de Kock would not make the trip to Australia and New Zealand. In July 2013, he was part of the South African squad that toured Sri Lanka and lost 4-1. It was their worst series defeat in close to a decade, and almost all of their players were out of their depth. The younger players struggled the most. De Kock contributed to their struggles at the top of the order. He was unsure on the slow surfaces and hesitant against Sri Lanka's spinners. Both his technique and temperament were found wanting, and he could scrape together just 55 runs in his three innings.

De Kock knew there was no point in mulling over his failures. Instead, he set about correcting his weaknesses.

"He was almost a different person when he came back from Sri Lanka," says Geoffrey Toyana, the coach of the Lions franchise where de Kock plays his domestic cricket. "We had to force him out of the nets. I would give him throwdowns for hours after training ended. He would catch more balls than ever before, and his work ethic improved."

Hugh Page, a former South African selector who watched de Kock from his school days at the King Edward VII School, recalled the young batsman's raw talent. "When he was 13 years old, he was playing in the school's first team, with and against guys who were four years older than he," Page says. "That was a tough bunch of boys to be team-mates with, and they would give Quinton a hard time, but it didn't bother him. In fact, I think he thrived on it." De Kock admitted as much. "People have told me I have talent," he says. They also told him that if he hoped to play at the senior World Cup, he would have to do more.

"But I don't know if he actually listens," Neil McKenzie, the former South African opener and Lions veteran, once said.

The Sri Lankan experience forced de Kock to change his attitude. He realised he would have to improve both his batting and his wicketkeeping, and he returned home with a focus on the sweep shot. He also practised fielding against balls that kept low, flew high and bounced awkwardly. "He definitely had the skills to play on every surface, but he had to work on some things," Page says.

Given what de Kock was being primed for -- to be South Africa's first-choice gloveman and a key member of the batting line-up -- hard work was never negotiable. "I didn't change much; I just put in a lot of effort, and that made me become more confident," de Kock says.

It also has secured him a spot in South Africa's side in all formats and has taken the pressure off AB de Villiers, who can now concentrate on captaining in ODIs and operating as the senior batsman at all other levels. De Villiers' most pressing task is to end South Africa's major tournament drought, and de Kock could prove invaluable in that mission. "He has a carefree approach, he is not conservative and he is hugely talented," Page says. "He won't get caught up in issues of the past. He is part of a fresh bunch who don't carry that baggage." That's because the only deep thinking going on when de Kock is doing his thing happens in other people's minds.

"I just imagine the player he will be at 25 and smile," Toyana says.

So does much of South Africa. The World Cup is waiting.