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South Africa team management 'pretty shocked' over Quinton de Kock's retirement from Test cricket

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Right after the conclusion of the first Test against India, Quinton de Kock announced a sudden retirement from the longest format and it wasn’t only the followers of the game who were left in a state of shock with that abrupt decision.

South Africa’s team management including both the head coach Mark Boucher and skipper Dean Elgar have expressed their “shock” over de Kock’s decision to walk away from the longest format of the game.

Elgar termed de Kock’s decision a “disappointing” one considering the state of South Africa cricket but empathised and respected the reasoning that the wicketkeeper had to offer for his decision. He expressed hope that de Kock will find it worthwhile to remain committed to the longer version of the game.

Quinton de Kock was anyway set to miss the last two Tests of the series against India but his decision to move away from Test cricket altogether has reignited the debate around the health of the game, especially the format in South Africa. 

It has also raked the debate about the relationship between Cricket South Africa and players which could come to affect other players’ performance against India. Elgar, however, expressed his expectations that players will be professional enough to not allow the noise surrounding de Kock’s decision to affect their performance.

“I was pretty shocked. I wasn't aware this was going to happen, but sitting down with Quinny that evening and him explaining to me the reason, I very much respect his decision and fully understand the space he is in," Elgar said in the press conference before the second Test of the series against India. "Hopefully it doesn't come back one day and he still wishes he was part of our red-ball set-up."

"It's disappointing. Not having Quinny around is disappointing for me," he said. "It's something I need to get over because I know there's other talented players within our system that I need to give a lot of attention to now and that's perfectly fine. As tough as it is, it's one of those things you need to crack on with and get over as quickly as possible. The players respect the environment, we've realised we've had quite a few setbacks over recent times and this is just another one we need to be clever around and we need to get over because the game moves on. I don't see this affecting the players and them still being shocked about his retirement."

India have taken a lead of 1-0 in the three-match long Test series and the hosts South Africa are pushed against the wall to stage a comeback and deny the men in blue their first series win in their home conditions.

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