It’s about who wins the small moments: de Kock

Quinton de Kock stressed that the recent flurry of T20Is between India and South Africa could add a twist to the T20 World Cup Super Eight game between the two teams.

“We will have a good game because we have played against each other quite a bit over the last two months. The teams haven’t really changed much. So I think it’s more about who deals with the pressure better and wins the small moments in the game,” said the South African opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Colombo on Saturday (February 21, 2026).

Recalling the 2024 T20 World Cup final loss to India, de Kock emphasised that the players have moved on, “To be honest, after that day, we just forgot about it.” And when specifically asked about Abhishek Sharma, de Kock replied, “He is the No. 1 T20 batsman at the moment, so he must keep doing what he is doing. He is quite young, he is bound to fail, but at some point he will play an important knock.”

The southpaw also backed his fellow-opener and skipper Aiden Markram, “He has clarity as an opener and as a captain, which allows us to be ourselves”.