South Africa's Quinton de Kock To Take Retirement From ODIs Post World Cup 2023

De Kock has made 17 centuries and 29 half-centuries with his willow with the best score of 178 against Australia at Centurion in 2016.

Quinton de Kock in action.

Source : Getty

South Africa’s explosive wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock is ready to hang his boots from the ODI format as he declared his decision of retirement via Cricket South Africa during the team's ODI World Cup squad announcement on Tuesday. De Kock has been a stalwart for the Proteas specially in white-ball cricket since he came to the ODI scene in 2013. As of now, he has played a total of 140 games in the 50-over format where he collected 5966 runs.

He has been batting with an impressive average of  44.85 and a strike rate of 96.08. De Kock has made 17 centuries and 29 half-centuries with his willow with the best score of 178 against Australia at Centurion in 2016.

Apart from batting, Quinton is a terrific wicketkeeper as well and he collected 183 catches and 14 stumpings, contributing significantly to the team's defensive strategies. The 30-year-old player has represented South Africa in two Cricket World Cups where he scored 450 runs across 17 matches, maintaining an average of 30.

At one point of time, he was also handed over the captaincy, and he led his team in eight ODIs. Under his captaincy, the team sealed victories in four matches and faced defeat in three.

Speaking on De Kock’s decision to retire from ODIs, Director of Cricket Enoch Nkwe said: “Quinton de Kock has been a really good servant to South African cricket. He set the benchmark with his attacking batting style and was a key member of the squad for a number of years.

"He also wore the captain’s armband and that is an honour that very few people get to hold.

“We understand his decision to step back from ODI cricket and we want to thank him for his service over the years. We wish him well for the future but still look forward to seeing him represent the Proteas in T20I cricket.”

South Africa will start their World Cup campaign on 7 October in Delhi, against Sri Lanka.