“Kyle Had a Better Record”: Krunal Pandya Explains Why Quinton de Kock Didn’t Play IPL 2023 Eliminator at Chepauk

Both Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians were guilty of making bizarre changes to their combinations during the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2023 Eliminator. With MI managing to register an 81-run victory, their fifth-biggest (by runs) in the history of the IPL, they have justified bringing in an Impact Player for a bowler in the first innings itself.

It brings us to the two changes made by Super Giants to their combination for a knockout clash. With one of them backfiring, fans are yet to come to terms with the fact that they left out wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock in spite of him scoring 143 runs at an average of 35.75 and a strike rate of 140.19 across four innings this season.

de Kock, who was replaced by Impact Player Kyle Mayers, not even being part of LSG’s five substitutes was appalling, to say the least. Opening the batting with Prerak Mankad (3) in a 183-run chase, Mayers was out for 18 (13) after he mis-timed a Chris Jordan (1/7) delivery to Cameron Green (41 & 0/15) at mid-on.

Krunal Pandya Explains Why Quinton de Kock Didn’t Play IPL 2023 Eliminator

Lucknow stand-in captain Krunal Pandya (0/38 & 8) echoed regular captain KL Rahul‘s opinion on leaving de Kock out of the Playing XI. Being asked about the same after their second Eliminator loss in as many seasons, Pandya explained the reason behind a debatable move.

“It’s always a tough decision. Quinton de Kock is a quality player. I mean he’s a world-class batter. But it’s just Kyle [Mayers] had a better record over here [in Chennai]. We just felt we can go with Kyle,” Pandya told host broadcaster Star Sports Network.

Mayers or de Kock – Who Has Better Record at the MA Chidambaram Stadium?

Mayers, 30, was preferred over de Kock due to his last innings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. In what was the second of his four IPL 2023 half-centuries, Mayers had scored 53 (22) at a strike rate of 240.90 in what was also an unsuccessful 218-run chase in their second match of the season. Readers must note that the same remains his only innings in representative cricket at this venue.

de Kock, on the other hand, had scored 74 IPL runs at an average and strike rate of 10.57 and 94.87 respectively at the Chepauk in the past. While the last of his seven IPL innings here had come a couple of years ago, his only international match in Chennai was an ODI in 2015 where he had scored 43 (34) while unsuccessfully chasing a 300-run target.