De Kock excited about Pakistan tour but dreads ‘bubble life’

South African captain Quinton de Kock is excited about touring Pakistan later this month but not looking forward of being stuck in another bio-secure bubble, Reuters reported today.

“There are two sides to it. I’m excited to get over there and play cricket in what will be a new challenge,” de Kock said.

“But the off-the-field stuff is another type of challenge. Bubble life is probably going to be the hardest challenge we will face out there,” he added.

The 28-year-old was appointed captain of South Africa’s Test team last month and had a successful start to his tenure after beating Sri Lanka 2-0 in a home series on Tuesday.

While the batsman enjoyed his maiden victory as Test skipper, he was not particularly a fan of staying in a bio-secure environment. “It’s very unsettling and a little nervy. It’s an accumulation of a lot of little things you are not used to plus the uncertainty of being caught in a lockdown, where you are then stuck in a place,” de Kock said.

“That’s the worst case scenario but it is something you do think about. But for now, we just have to deal with it in the best way possible.”

The Proteas team will visit Pakistan in January for the first time in 14 years for two Tests and three Twenty20 Internationals.

Marking the return of international cricket in the country, Pakistan has hosted Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the last 15 months. The country will also host England for a two-match T20I series in October before the T20 World Cup in India this year.  

Read: Pakistan vs South Africa series to have local match officials: sources

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