What can SA batting coach Duminy tell De Kock when he’s in such form? Not much

When a player is on a run of form such as Quinton de Kock is at the World Cup, what, as a batting coach, does JP Duminy do or say?

“Just be his mate,” Duminy smiled. “That’s the beauty of Quinny — he’s got a strong opinion about most things, and I think the way to get Quinny on your side is to ask good questions and then make him feel like he’s come up with the answers.”

De Kock has never been able to explain how he does what he does. It often, especially early in his career, led to many derogatory opinions about him. He found some of those perspectives hurtful but over the years has learnt to value the perspectives of teammates more than anything from outside the dressing room.

On Tuesday after his third hundred at this year’s World Cup, teammates and coaches had nothing but praise for his efforts.

“He’s got a fantastic cricket brain,” said the Proteas stand-in skipper Aiden Markram.

Duminy said: “For him, it’s really about having people in his corner that trust his judgment. He’s got a good sense about the game, he’s a good decisionmaker under pressure, it’s been the hallmark of his career.”

He is also an effective communicator for those teammates, relaying not just pitch updates but valuable insight on-field, and a central figure in the pre-match strategy talks.

It was De Kock who let it be known when South Africa faced England last Saturday in the oppressive conditions at Wankhede Stadium that charging for singles and twos was not a productive means of keeping the scoreboard ticking. Also the conditions that day would affect England much worse than the Proteas' batters.

While De Kock enjoys sharing, Duminy mentioned how he was still driven by personal ambition, among the biggest being to make an ODI double hundred — something he had in his sights on Tuesday night.

“I’d like to think [he was going for the double hundred]. It’s not often you get an opportunity like that.”

De Kock fell 26 runs short, but none of his teammates would have begrudged him that landmark had it been achieved. “I don’t think [chasing that double hundred] would have come at the expense of the team, he was still making good decisions [while batting] for the benefit of the team.”

Duminy couldn’t tell if De Kock was really disappointed to miss the milestone. There have only been 10 ODI double hundreds, three of them scored by De Kock’s former IPL teammate, Rohit Sharma.

Though talk of a batting blueprint was dismissed by Duminy and Markram, it is clear the Proteas play to a plan and with a certain rhythm, which De Kock is an essential part of.

“From a batting point of view, if the conditions are dictating something, we have to back ourselves in terms of taking the strong options and so for us [the coaching staff] it's about encouraging that. There has to be a willingness to take the positive options,” Duminy said.

That could mean playing square against the spinners, or taking to the air to access the boundary.

The important part for Duminy was conviction in executing the shot and for the batter to be clear about playing the ball coming towards him. It explains why Rassie van der Dussen didn’t put away the reverse sweep after that shot led to his downfall against the Dutch.

It was with the same kind of mentality that De Kock, against Bangladesh, reverse-swept Mahmadullah for six.

“There have been times when we’ve been under pressure and the decisions we’ve made have not matched the information in front of us,” Duminy said.

“We can take confidence out of our performances with the bat in this tournament. And people will ask questions about batting second, but I’m a strong believer that we will be ready for that when that time comes.”