There will be no surprise retirements from him anytime soon, as he plans to wear the green and gold for the longest period of time, Proteas wicketkeeper-batsmen Quinton de Kock said.
De Kock, 32, shocked the cricketing fraternity when he retired from ODIs and T20Is in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
On Thursday, he explained his decision as a lost sense of purpose in playing the game at the international level.
But he said his break away from the game had reignited his childhood goal from the first day he picked up his bat.
“I think I’ve played so much for the Proteas over the years. I kind of forgot about that dream as a kid who’s grown up to be a Proteas cricketer,” De Kock said, ahead of the 2nd T20I against Pakistan at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday (5pm).
“I think after having a bit of a break from the team, that childhood dream kind of came back.
“And so, I guess that’s one of the big things that I missed about representing this team or playing for the Proteas,” he said.
De Kock said that over the past few weeks, he had held a conversation with head coach Shukri Conrad, who he described as “a very honest coach and straightforward”.
In those talks, De Kock ironed out his aspirations.
“When I spoke to Shukri, I said I’d like to play for the Proteas as long as I can, however long that’s going to be.
“Obviously, I’d like to play in a couple of World Cups in that timeline.
“It’s all up to Shukri and me. If I score runs, and if he selects me.
“I said to him, look, I’ve disappeared for a year or two.
“But now I’m back to play for as long as I can.
“I’m still pretty fit. I feel fitter than ever at the moment. My body feels great.
“I’m going to push it for as long as I can, whatever that timeline is. I haven’t set a deadline or timeline,” he said.
De Kock now forms part of the leadership group entrusted by Conrad.
“I think it’s very different, me coming back as one of the older guys,” De Kock said.
“I’ve always been used to being one of the young guys in the team.
“The other day, we were talking about it, me and Reeza [Hendricks].
“It felt like the other day, we were just playing the U19s and now we’re the two oldest guys in the team or in the whole Protea squad.
“So, it’s quite a bit of shell shock. But yeah, that’s what it is,” he said.
The Proteas lead Pakistan 1-0 in the T20 series after their 55-run win on Tuesday and are eyeing sealing it with a win at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday (5pm).
At the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, De Kock made 23 and shared a 44-run opening stand with Hendricks.
“It was great being back out there with the team.
“Well, it’s quite nice that my opening partner was Reeza, someone with whom I’ve batted with for a while.
“So it kind of felt like I just slotted back in with him being there on the other side and not someone that I’m not used to.
“So that was quite nice. In the camp, we are pretty relaxed.
“Obviously, we were very excited. We won our first T20 here in Pakistan. But it’s not the series,” he said.
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