At 29, Quinton de Kock announces retirement from Test cricket
Johannesburg(PTI): South Africa's star wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock on Thursday announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect, said the country's apex body, CSA, hours after the team's defeat in the first Test against India.
A former Test captain, De Kock is only 29 and it is believed that he will continue playing in the white-ball formats for the Proteas, with a lot of focus on franchise-based T20 leagues.
"De Kock has cited his intentions to spend more time with his growing family for the timing and reason for his relatively early retirement from the format. He and his wife, Sasha, are anticipating the imminent birth of their first-born child in the coming days," Cricket South Africa (CSA) said in a statement.
On his part, the player said that it wasn't an easy decision.
"This is not a decision that I have come to very easily. I have taken a lot of time to think about what my future looks like and what needs to take priority in my life now that Sasha and I are about to welcome our first child into this world and look to grow our family beyond that," De Kock said.
"My family is everything to me and I want to have the time and space to be able to be with them during this new and exciting chapter of our lives."
De Kock made his Proteas Test debut against Australia in Gqeberha in 2014. In 54 matches, he scored 3300 runs with a highest score of 141 not out, at an average of 38.82 and strike rate of 70.93.
He has six centuries and 22 half-centuries under his belt along with 232 dismissals, which includes 221 catches and 11 stumpings.
De Kock has also taken the third-most number of catches in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship -- 48 in 11 matches (47 catches and 1 stumping) and has a personal best of six dismissals in an innings, against England in Centurion in 2019.
South Africa lost the opening Test to India by 113 runs in Centurion.
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6 injured as doctor's car rams into parked vehicles in Thane district
Thane (PTI): At least six people were injured, two of them seriously, when a speeding car driven by a doctor rammed into multiple parked vehicles in the Kalyan area of Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Thursday.
According to police officials, the driver of the four-wheeler suddenly lost control of the car, which then crashed into three to four vehicles parked along the roadside on Wednesday morning.
The car driver, identified as Dr Sanjay Bendale, has been detained by the Khadakpada police in connection with the accident, which left six people injured, they said.
"The impact of the crash was so severe that two-wheelers parked in the vicinity were heavily damaged. Local residents rushed to the spot to assist the victims and shifted them to a nearby hospital," an official said.
Of the injured, two sustained grievous wounds and are currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital, he said.
Police are investigating whether a technical failure or human error led to the crash, according to the official.
An offence has been registered against the doctor under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), he added.
