‘Good to see he is practising’: With Aiden Markram already out, South Africa fret over Quinton de Kock's availability

South Africa will be hoping to see experienced wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock return for the fourth T20I in Rajkot.

South Africa endured a huge blow even before the first ball of the T20I series against India was bowled. Aiden Markram, who was in splendid form in the Indian Premier League, which was played just ahead of the series, was forced out due to Covid-19 and on Wednesday he was eventually ruled out of the five-match series.

South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock  (PTI)

The tourists suffered another blow in the form of Quinton de Kock, who didn't feature after the series opener due to a wrist injury. Although the absence of the two stars did minimum damage as South Africa won the first two T20Is comfortably. But a solid comeback by Rishabh Pant and co in the third encounter at Visakhapatnam leaves the series hanging and South Africa would be eager to win the fourth encounter and take an unassailable 3-1 lead.

With that said, the team will definitely hope to see experienced wicketkeeper-batter De Kock return to the pitch. The 29-year-old left-handed batter was in superb form while playing for Lucknow Super Giants, which saw him amass 508 runs from 15 matches at a strike-rate of 148.97.

The cricket board of South Africa had released an official statement on De Kock's recovery on Wednesday. "Wicket-keeper batsman, Quinton de Kock, has made a marked improvement in his recovery from a wrist injury. The Proteas' medical staff will continue to assess his progress and make a decision on his availability for match four in due course," it read.

On Thursday, pacer Anrich Nortje provided fresh updates on the 20-year-old wicketkeeper.

“I am not sure but he is practising. Good to see he is practising. Probably we will find out tonight or tomorrow morning,” the pacer said in the pre-match press conference.

The fourth T20I is scheduled to be played in Rajkot on Friday.