3 massive World Cup records Quinton de Kock can break in 2023

South Africa have surprised a lot of their detractors in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup by winning the first two matches that they played.

After having beaten Sri Lanka in their opening encounter in Delhi last Saturday, they also emerged victorious against their bitter foes, Australia, in Lucknow on Thursday.

Both of these wins were by huge margins for the Proteas and sprinkled with a lot of encouraging signs for them. One of the biggest stars for them in both of these games was wicketkeeper-opener Quinton de Kock.

De Kock was instrumental in helping South Africa win the first two matches that they played. He has started the tournament in fine form, scoring centuries in both of these games. This will bode well for South Africa and help them push forward towards the semifinal spot.

South Africa have had a very good start to the tournament, but they will still want to take each game as it comes before setting their eyes on a top-four berth. De Kock, in particular, will hope to continue doing well and assist his country in their push for qualification.

Having announced his desire to retire from ODI cricket at the end of the World Cup, De Kock will hope to walk away from this stage with a flourish.

A lot rests upon him, as he is the person who is tasked with getting the Proteas off to a flying start. Along the way, he is also on the cusp of breaking a lot of records.

In this listicle, we bring to you three massive World Cup records that Quinton de Kock can break in the ongoing tournament.

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#1 Most runs in a World Cup campaign

Quinton de Kock in action against Australia.

If De Kock does continue in the same vein of form, he might very well overtake Sachin Tendulkar for being the leading run-scorer in a particular World Cup campaign.

For the uninitiated, Tendulkar amassed 673 runs for India in the 2003 World Cup, which India lost to Australia in the final. De Kock, who already has 209 runs to his name in the two innings that he has played so far, will be looking to break this record.

What works to his advantage is that unless he gets injured or the weather in the subcontinent takes a turn for the worse, South Africa should get another seven innings in the group stage.

If they qualify for the knockout stage, they will get even more. At the moment, De Kock needs 465 runs to eclipse Tendulkar and become the leading run-scorer of a particular World Cup campaign.

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#2 Most centuries in a World Cup campaign

Quinton de Kock celebrating his century against Sri Lanka.

The record for the most number of centuries scored by a batsman in a particular World Cup campaign is with Rohit Sharma, who bagged five tons in the 2019 edition of the tournament.

If De Kock manages to add four more centuries to his two already, he will be able to make this record his own. As stated earlier, he has gotten off to a perfect start and will be keen on making it count.

De Kock also has the advantage of having at least seven more innings to come where he can muster up as many runs as he possibly can. However, this record appears to be quite steep for De Kock to break down.

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#3 Most runs by a wicket-keeper in a World Cup campaign

Kumar Sangakkara holds the record for being the wicketkeeper with most runs in a particular WC campaign.

Kumar Sangakkara holds the record for a wicketkeeper scoring the most runs in a World Cup campaign. He bagged 541 runs in the 2015 edition of the tournament, held in Australia and New Zealand, with four centuries to his name.

De Kock, who has already announced his desire to retire after this tournament, will want to go out with the distinction of having been the wicketkeeper with the most number of runs in a particular World Cup campaign.

He appears to be in good form and should be able to get there if he does not get injured or lose momentum all of a sudden. De Kock has a lot of his detractors to prove wrong, and he does seem to be quite determined to do so this time around.