South Africa’s white-ball coach Rob Walter revealed a surprising development, stating that Quinton de Kock expressed a desire to retire from international cricket after the 2023 World Cup.
Despite convincing De Kock to be available for T20Is, he opted to retire from one-day cricket, having already stepped away from red-ball cricket. Here’s Rob Walter’s statement regarding Quinton de Kock after unveiling the squad on Monday:
“In conversations with Quinny at the time of him walking away from ODI cricket [after the World Cup in India, which ended last month], it was originally his plan to retire altogether.”
”I asked him to hold off on that decision. He had a Big Bash opportunity which clashed with the India series. In order to keep him in the game this was the resolution.”
South Africa’s T20I Team:
Aiden Markram (c), Ottniel Baartman, Matthew Breetzke, David Miller, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee (1st and 2nd T20Is), Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen (1st and 2nd T20Is), Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Reeza Hendricks, Lungi Ngidi (1st and 2nd T20Is), Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, and Lizaad Williams.
Rob Walter discussed the decision to rest Temba Bavuma during the upcoming series
South African captain Temba Bavuma will only play the two Tests against India, as he has been given rest for the white-ball segment. Rob Walter mentioned that this decision was made to manage Bavuma’s mental workload following an intense World Cup campaign.
On this, Walter told:
“Temba’s been phenomenal throughout the year, but there’s a mental toll in terms of the pressures of a World Cup. The scrutiny on a captain is even more pronounced.”
”For him to step away for a while and prioritise being ready for the Test series is important to us. In fact, we want all of our key players to be in the best shape for that [Test] series and that drove our decision-making.”
South Africa has maintained an undefeated record against India in Test series on home turf, securing a 2-1 victory in the 2021-22 series.
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