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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Photographer killed over viral Instagram photo in UP's Ballia; 2 arrested
Ballia (UP) (PTI): A 24-year-old photographer was stabbed to death here after he allegedly made a married woman's photos viral on Instagram, angering her family and in-laws, police said. The woman's brother and cousin have been arrested in the matter.
According to them, the two accused lured Chandan Bind to an agriculture plot on the night of March 18, stabbed him multiple times and dumped his body in a wheat field.
The body was discovered five days later on March 23 and the arrests were made on Monday. A senior police official said that Bhind's body has been sent for post-mortem.
Circle Officer Mohammad Faheem said, "Chandan was in contact with the main accused Surendra Yadav's sister even after her marriage. He continued calling her at her in-laws' place and even tried to meet her there, which she refused."
"Upset over this, he allegedly made her photos viral on Instagram, causing tensions in her in-laws' family. After the woman complained to her family, Surendra decided to take revenge," the police official said.
The circle officer further stated that on Holi, Surendra pretended to befriend Chandan and later used someone else's phone to lure him to an isolated field on the night of March 18.
There, Surendra and his cousin Rohit Yadav ambushed him and stabbed him to death before dumping his body in a wheat field.
A case under BNS sections 103(1) (murder) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) against Surendra, Shri Bhagwan, Bali Yadav, Deepak Yadav (all from Chandan's village), and the woman's cousin Rohit Yadav from Saran district in Bihar.
Chandan's father, Shyam Bihari Prasad, stated in his complaint that the accused took his son from home, killed him, and disposed of the body.
Police arrested Surendra and Rohit on Monday. "Both confessed to the crime and we have recovered three knives used in the murder," Faheem said.
