At this stage it’s difficult to argue with the former Proteas batsman, as De Kock’s century in the second Test in Hobart played a major role in their innings and 80-run victory to wrap up the series with one match left.

De Kock’s exploits of late, which has seen him post 82, 50, 84, 64 and 104 in his last five Test innings, as well as 122 and 99 in the two warm-up games, has got plenty of high-profile names drawing comparisons with Australian Adam Gilchrist, arguably one of the greatest and certainly the most destructive wicketkeeper-batsman of all time.

When the SuperSport panel were asked what they though of De Kock’s recent form, Rudolph, who played 48 Tests for the Proteas, went as far as to say that ‘he will be one of the best cricketers we’ve ever produced’.

De Kock followed up on that himself in an interview with commentator Mike Haysman after the match.

‘To score runs against Australia means a lot to anybody, and to contribute under pressure was special,’ he said. ‘After my poor performance at the World Cup last year, it’s a really proud moment for me.’

De Kock admitted that it wasn’t part of the team strategy to play quite as well as they did on Tuesday morning, as Australia collapsed to 8-40.

‘It all happened so quickly. We got together as a team this morning, and we thought we needed to grind out the wickets. It happened a lot quicker than I thought.’

He was quick to bat away any comparisons with Gilchrist, but it was difficult to do so when Haysman suggested that he is in fact better than the legendary Australian was. He was also quick to mention another young teammate who he’s looking forward to many years of success with.

‘I still feel like I’m just the normal me,’ De Kock said. ‘I’ve still only played 12 Tests so I’ve still got a lot to do. It’s early days; there’s still a long way to go and I’m looking forward to it.

‘It’s just the start for Rabada, too,’ he added. It’s a long road for both of us, and we’re going to stick together and contribute to the team.’