Gary Kirsten makes Quinton feel at home

NEW DELHI: What a difference a year of top-level cricket makes in the confidence of a player. Quinton de Kock looked like just another youngster finding his way around when he turned out for Sunrisers Hyderabad last year. Now with 16 ODIs under his belt, an average of over 46 and four centuries - three of them in succession against India - De Kock is on every opposition's radar.

Delhi Daredevils had no qualms about splashing Rs 3.5 crore on the 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman and the move is already reaping benefits. The Daredevils opening slot looks far more assured with De Kock at the top with Murali Vijay.

"I don't think our batting has underperformed in the tournament. We were a bit sloppy in the first match but since then we have almost managed to chase down 190 in one of the matches. JP Duminy and others have managed to step up their game at the right time," Daredevils' De Kock said after an optional practice session at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Thursday.

The southpaw began with a bang with a 30-ball 48 against the Sunrisers in a four-run loss and claims that he likes to keep things 'simple'. "I don't think I'll change my gameplan in different tournaments. If there is some corrections required in my technique I'll do that. For me it's important to keep things simple," he said.

He is relishing the environment in the Daredevils dressing room with South Africans Gary Kirsten, Eric Simons and Rob Walters part of the support staff. "The environment in the Daredevils is a little bit different than that of Sunrisers. There were more Australian players in the coaching staff there and I feel more at home with guys like Gary (Kirsten) and Rob Walters," De Kock felt.

The South African, who got an opportunity to play with Kevin Pietersen for the first time here, felt at ease by the former England captain's 'chilled out' nature. "KP was a bit annoyed by our lethargic fielding against the Sunrisers. Otherwise, he is very chilled out."

Devils' Metro ride

The members of the Delhi Daredevils team decided to ditch their team bus on Thursday and took a ride on the Delhi Metro on the Airport Line to arrive at Kotla for their practice session in the evening.

While skipper Pietersen has been on the metro before, others like Wayne Parnell and Quinton de Kock savoured the ride. Parnell tweeted on Thursday evening: "Interesting experience taking the metro train to training. Surely you must've done that before @KP24??"

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