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When South Africa’s squad for the ODI series against Pakistan was announced, Quinton de Kock’s name raised a few eyebrows. De Kock had retired from ODIs after the ODI World Cup 2023 in India. His last ODI appearance was against Australia in the semifinal. While many felt that De Kock retired from ODIs too early, a couple of years later, the southpaw revealed that playing for the Proteas took a toll on him, the constant tours broke him.
“I was pretty tired of being a Protea at that stage. I’ve been playing with the Proteas for over a decade. All the travel and representing my country – it kind of broke me,” De Kock told the Sunday Times.
“Mentally it took a toll on me. It’s tough dealing with losses when expectations are so high. Eventually I decided, I don’t know if I can carry on doing this.”
While Heinrich Klaasen has retired from international cricket, South Africa don’t have a dearth of opening batters or wicketkeeper-batters. Matthew Breetzke who has been named captain for the ODI series in the absence of a rested Aiden Markram, is a wicketkeeper as well.
De Kock said that he was nervous about speaking to South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad. From ODI World Cup 2023 semifinal exit to the T20 World Cup 2025 final defeat, De Kock has had his own share of heartbreaks in major events.
“I was nervous about getting back into a system where I know dealing with certain pressures and heartbreaks takes a toll. Speaking to Shukri was the easy part — we’re very honest with each other. But making that phone call wasn’t,” the 32-year-old admitted.
De Kock on chances of playing ODI World Cup 2027
Now that de Kock has returned, he is committed to play in the ODI World Cup 2027 on South African soil even though he is taking it one series at a time.
“I guess so, that’s one of the few reasons I put my name in. It’s a big thing. There’s some seriously good talent in the team at the moment, and they seem to be playing really well,” the former South Africa captain said.
“I haven’t really thought about the 2027 World Cup, or even next year’s T20 World Cup. I’m just trying to figure out how I’ll score runs in the next series. I’m taking it one step at a time.”
De Kock chases milestone on comeback
In the upcoming ODI series, de Kock will have a chance to surpass Gary Kirsten (6,798 runs) on the list of top run-scorers for South Africa in the format. de Kock has scored 6,770 runs from 155 ODIs at an average of 45.74, including 21 centuries and 30 fifties. He also has a chance to become fifth South African to score 7,000 or more runs in ODIs.
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