South Africa sweat over Quinton de Kock's fitness ahead of India series

What's the story?

Due to a hamstring injury, Quinton de Kock has been ruled out of the ongoing four-day Test against Zimbabwe in Port Elizabeth. The South African wicket-keeper batsman suffered a low-grade hamstring strain on his right leg during the opening day's play at St George's Park.

Earlier in the day, the 25-year old was taken for scans in order to assess the extent of the injury. With medical diagnosis confirming just a low-grade strain, South Africa's medical staff are confident of his availability for the upcoming Cape Town Test against India.

A Cricket South Africa (CSA) spokesperson stated, "He (de Kock) will continue to receive treatment with the physio but won't take the field for the rest of the (ongoing) match. The medical team is confident he'll recover in time for the first match against India."

The background

Whilst batting on the first day of the floodlit Test against Zimbabwe, de Kock showed signs of discomfort after straining a muscle in the 73rd over of South Africa's innings. When his batting partner Vernon Philander called him for a third run, the left-hander tweaked his hamstring in the process and immediately declined the extra run.

The heart of the matter

Prior to the experimental four-day Test match, South Africa had already been dealt a couple of injury-related blows as skipper Faf du Plessis and comeback man Dale Steyn were ruled out due to viral infections. Consequently, AB de Villiers was tasked with leading the Proteas in his comeback Test.

Walking into bat after the fall of centurion Aiden Markram, de Kock began his innings by scoring a streaky boundary off the first ball that he faced. When he was batting on 13, the southpaw drove leg-spinner Graeme Cremer through mid-off. As he was in the process of completing the second run, the left-hander was seen clutching his right hamstring.

Notwithstanding the pain, de Kock resumed his innings after the team physio had attended to him. He continued batting before being trapped in front by Cremer for a 38-ball 24. The gloveman did not take the field when South Africa declared their innings towards the end of the first day.

As a result, de Villiers was forced to take up wicket-keeping duties. With de Kock now sidelined due to injury, the stand-in captain will continue to don the gloves for the remainder of the match.

What's next?

Having enforced the follow-on, South Africa are within sights of securing an emphatic victory as the second day's play is approaching the twilight session. The first Test of the Proteas' 3-match series against India will begin at Cape Town on January 5.

Author's take

Even though it might not have been ideal to burden de Villiers with both captaincy as well as wicket-keeping duties in his comeback Test, the South African team management have made the right call in sidelining de Kock from the Zimbabwe match.

Ahead of an important series against the top-ranked Indian team, they will be hoping that their premier gloveman regains full fitness and is ready to take the field at Cape Town.