Twitter reacts to Quinton ‘Ronaldo’ de Kock exquisitely back-heeling ball to steal four runs

Quinton de Kock might be baby-faced but he is one cheeky cricketer. He often subtly gets under the skin of his opponents and nonchalantly keeps being a nagging presence behind the stumps. He is not an ‘in-your-face’ character like Pant but, nevertheless, a very annoying presence. 

We know he is also a cheeky batsman, pulling off the scoops and reverse hits, but today in Delhi, the South African wicket-keeper took his sassiness to a whole new level. On the second ball of the 11th over, with MI 87/2, part-timer Shivam Dube bowled an inch-perfect yorker. Reading the length of the delivery in no time, the batsman, de Kock, attempted a scoop over fine leg but the shot ended up going horribly wrong.

But de Kock having luck on his side meant that, somehow, Mumbai Indians ended up getting ‘four leg byes’ after the ball ended up beating the keeper and racing off to the boundary. On the first look, the leg byes looked like four lucky runs for the batting side, but replays showed that there was no luck involved. Yes, the batsman, de Kock, had ended up deliberately kicking the ball beyond the keeper. 

After missing the attempted scoop, de Kock, cheekily, backheeled the ball. The southpaw ended up playing all over the ball and missing it, but through some rather cunning presence of mind, ended up executing the perfect back heel to get the ball beyond the keeper and steal four runs. Dominic Cork on The Dugout described de Kock’s move as a ‘Cruyff Turn’ and frankly, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Proteas batsman had watched videos of the great man before he took to the field today.

What was that shot from De Kock

It sounds so wrong

Terrible shot selection

Bizarre shot