THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Quinton de Kock was just 20 when he made his international debut for South Africa in a T20 International. A year later, he caught the imagination of the cricket world by smashing three back-to-back ODI hundreds against India. But it seems living life out of a suitcase has taken a toll on him.
Into the 11th year in international cricket, the opener has decided to walk away from the ODI format, two years after calling it quits from Test cricket - the ODI World Cup in India is his last assignment.
"My body says I'm 40. My id says I'm 31 and I still mentally try to act like I'm a 20-year-old all the time," de Kock said before he played his final ODI at home in Johannesburg.
The South African, who said that he wanted to spend more time with his family in the days ahead, however, isn't giving up on the game altogether and has admitted that he would continue to play the T20s, considering the lucrative incentives it offers.
In many ways, de Kock has been his own man on and off the cricket field. The southpaw had admitted that he was glad to hand over the captaincy as it was "not really in his character". In an era when every aspect of the game is dissected threadbare, de Kock prefers being out there in the middle.
He has also courted controversy, being in the eye of a storm during the T20 World Cup in UAE two years back when he refused to 'take the knee' in sympathy with the Black Lives Matter movement just because he felt that the nature of the directive issued by Cricket South Africa was 'threatening'.
But give him a bat in hand, and de Kock can still wow with his delightful cuts, hooks and pulls. The southpaw has been at his best in ODIs and is South Africa's seventh-highest run-getter in the format with 6,176 runs from 145 matches at 44.75, including 17 tons and 30 fifties. Two of those have come in India, where he averages 47.12, and he will be keen to increase that tally in the ODI format's showpiece event.
