De Kock: I’ve found a new energy

Quinton de Kock says a break from international cricket helped him rediscover his hunger and passion for the game.

The 32-year-old struck an unbeaten 123 in the Proteas’ eight-wicket win over Pakistan in Faisalabad on Thursday – his best performance since ending his white-ball international retirement in October.

De Kock had stepped away from ODIs after the 2023 World Cup and later retired from T20Is, but his match-winning knock was a reminder of his class at the top of the order.

HIGHLIGHTS: Pakistan vs Proteas (2nd ODI)

“I’ve come back and found a new energy that I think I lost over playing international cricket for such a long time,” De Kock told reporters. “I don’t know how long it was … I’m just lucky that I retired early enough that I could still make a comeback.”

The wicketkeeper-batsman, who made his Proteas debut as a 20-year-old in December 2012, said he has no regrets about stepping away when he did.

“I missed playing with the guys, don’t get me wrong, but I think my break did me really well just to get my hunger back and perform in international cricket again.”

While De Kock continued to feature in lucrative T20 franchise leagues – including the IPL for the Kolkata Knight Riders and SA20 for Durban’s Super Giants – he said the desire to represent his country again built up gradually.

“It wasn’t an overnight thing,” he said. “It took me weeks, months to really think about making a comeback. It was months of asking myself some questions and speaking to people.

“Even in the IPL this year, guys were asking me if I would ever come back and at that time it was just a straight: ‘No’. But then that thought process just started coming back and just that hunger was there, and I felt that if I was going to come back at any time, it should be soon.”