Breaking News: Quinton De Kock Announces Shocking Retirement From Test Cricket At The Age Of 29

Star South Africa Wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock has shocked the cricketing world with his sudden retirement from the purest format of the game; Test cricket.

Quinton de Kock on Thursday played his last Test against India at the SuperSport Park, Centurion where the Proteas side lost the match by the huge margin of 113 runs. Also, in the match, Quinton de Kock got out in the same manner first against Shardul Thakur and then against Mohammed Siraj. Looking at his 34 and 21 runs knock it was very clear that he was not fully focused and his mind was somewhere else.

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In an official statement issued by Cricket South Africa (CSA) De Kock said that taking the retirement decision was not easy for him and he has taken a lot of time to think about it. He elaborated:

“This is not a decision that I have come to very easily, I have taken a lot of time to think about what my future looks like and what needs to take priority in my life now that Sasha and I are about to welcome our first child into this world and look to grow our family beyond that. My family is everything to me and I want to have the time and space to be able to be with them during this new and exciting chapter of our lives.”

I Love Test Cricket And I Love Representing My Country – Quinton de Kock

The 29-year-old said that he loves playing Test cricket and has enjoyed every bit of it. However, he told that he has found something else that he loves even more. He explained:

“I love Test cricket and I love representing my country and all that it comes with. I’ve enjoyed the ups and the downs, the celebrations and even the disappointments, but now I’ve found something that I love even more. In life, you can buy almost everything except for time, and right now, it’s time to do right by the people that mean the most to me.”

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been a part of my Test cricket journey from the very beginning. To my coaches, teammates, the various management teams and my family and friends – I couldn’t have shown up as I did without your support,” he added.

Quinton de Kock clearly mentioned that he is not planning to say goodbye to cricket entirely and will continue to represent South Africa in limited-overs cricket. He asserted:

“This is not the end of my career as a Protea, I’m fully committed to white-ball cricket and representing my country to the best of my ability for the foreseeable future.”

The 29-year-old in his career managed to score 3300 runs at an average of 38.82 in 54 matches, among current Proteas cricketers only skipper Dean Elgar has more Test runs than Quinton de Kock in the purest format of the game.

Meanwhile, CSA acting CEO Pholetsi Moseki in an official statement said that losing a player of Quinton de Kock’s caliber is a sad thing for the team. He added that the wicketkeeper-batsman has been a loyal servant of the South African team for the last seven years. He asserted:

“It’s sad to lose a player of Quinton’s calibre at what we still see as the prime of his career and relatively young life, but family, as we all say here at CSA, is everything, He has been a loyal and proud servant of the Proteas team for the last seven years and we are glad that we have not lost him from the game entirely.”

Also Read: IND vs SA: Watch – Ravichandran Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara And Mohammed Siraj’s Dance Celebration After Historical Centurion Test Victory

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