Following a message from his wife as well as the Indian Women’s Premier League team, former Proteas captain Dané van Niekerk has retired from all forms of international cricket.
Van Niekerk currently plays in the WPL in India for Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, he is yet to play a game with RCB losing four games in a row.
On Saturday morning, Van Niekerk’s wife, fellow cricketer Marizanne Kapp, tweeted “The end of an era” with a broken heart and a smiley face.
Van Niekerk responded to the tweet by sending his heart, with the words, “What a time”.
Then several news organizations and cricket followers hinted that Van Niekerk had quit.
Van Niekerk was controversially left out of the Proteas Women’s squad for the T20 World Cup in South Africa, as she failed to complete the time trial at the specified time. South Africa reached the final before losing to Australia.
According to espncricinfo, Van Niekerk will make an official announcement on Saturday or Sunday.
According to the website, Van Niekerk, one of the greatest female players, said in an Instagram post:
“You have to accept that some things in our lives have to be closed without being closed. There is no point in losing yourself by trying to fix what should remain broken.
Career
Van Niekerk made her international debut in 2009 and represented the Women’s Proteas in 107 ODIs. He scored 2,175 runs and took 138 wickets.
In 86 T20s, he scored 1,877 runs and claimed 65 wickets.
He featured in the 50-overs World Cup squad in 2009, 2013, 2017 and also featured in the T20 World Cup in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020.