Virat Kohli always wants to be the best, says Quinton de Kock

South Africa cricketer Quinton de Kock heaped praise on his Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli stating that the passion with which the swashbuckling Indian cricketer plays the game is what makes him so special.

“Virat is very competitive by nature. As I said, he just wants to be the best. That sort of attitude is something that can only bring out the best in him,” De Kock said. “He’s not quite (emotional) actually. When you play against him, he seems very emotional. But now that when you play with him, it’s just Virat being Virat. He’s very passionate about what he does. Even when he plays soccer, if he doesn’t win, doesn’t do well, that’s just him being him.”

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De Kock was in town to launch Spintechs, a special mat that helps batsmen tackle spin with the mat enhancing the spin and pace of a certain delivery. The wicket-keeper batsman, who admitted that he struggled to play spin but is slowly getting better at it, further added that South Africa had found it difficult to play the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, when India toured the country earlier this year.

“When they came to South Africa, they were very much unknown, and I think that’s what really we struggled at. We were struggling to pick Kuldeep. He was bowling so slowly to us; we just didn’t know what to do with it. From the sidelines, however, you think ‘Ah! How well these young Indian spinners are bowling.’ Hopefully next time we’ll be able to play them better,” de Kock added.

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De Kock, who was part of the playing XI in the pink-ball Test against Zimbabwe last year, however raised concerns regarding the format playing under the lights. “There are still some rough edges in the format that needs to be rubbed out and made into a new format. I think it’s a good concept but there are a couple of things that can make it a lot better. At certain times, during the twilight period of play… It’s not the same as a red ball,” he added.

On being asked to comment on the trend of players signing Kolpak deals back in South Africa, de Kock stated that it was down to each individual. “It’s always a personal decision for the player why they want to sign Kolpak deals. It’s not always possible to know why they’ve done it. There’s just too much talent back home I guess. That could be it. They might feel they can’t really make it back home. But if that’s going to make them better people, better cricketers, that’s good. If they want to come back they’ll be welcomed with open arms. It’s always good to have guys with experience coming back,” he signed off.