ODI World Cup 2023: SA wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock retires from ODIs post semi-final loss vs Australia

South Africa's wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock had announced prior to the ODI World Cup 2023 that he'll retire at the end of the tournament. His last match came versus Australia on November 16 where the Proteas once again failed to break the knockout curse as they lost the semi-final match by three wickets.

SA skipper Temba Bavuma acknowledged after the match that de Kock would have wanted to end things on a different note but agreed that the southpaw will go down as one of the legends in his home country.

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“He would have wanted to end things on a different note, but he'll remember the type of innings and fight we showed as a team,” Bavuma said at the post-match ceremony after the loss against Australia.

“Us as players, we've enjoyed playing with him through all the years. In South Africa he will go down as one of the legends of the game,” he added.

de Kock had a wonderful World Cup as an individual, scoring 594 runs in 10 innings - second only to Virat Kohli's 711 runs. de Kock scored those runs at an average of 59.40 and a strike rate of 107. The opening batter also scored four centuries - the most in the ongoing World Cup. 

Overall, in ODIs, de Kock scored 6,770 runs in 155 matches at an average of 45 and strike rate of 96. He also has 21 hundreds to his name in ODIs - the third most for South Africa in the format behind Hashim Amla's 27 and AB de Villiers' 25. de Kock's highest score of 178 is also the third highest for the Proteas for most runs in an innings behind Gary Kirsten's 188 and Faf du Plessis' 185.

While de Kock would rue not being able to win the ICC silverware this time, he will be getting another chance in next year's T20 World Cup - a format which he will continue to play for South Africa.