South African white-ball coach Rob Walter has revealed that Quinton de Kock wanted to retire from all formats of the game after the 2023 World Cup. Walter said that de Kock was prevented from doing so by the South African team management.

South Africa national cricket team white-ball coach Rob Walter has made a big revelation about Quinton de Kock's original plan to retire from international cricket entirely at the end of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Walter claimed that he had to convince De Kock to be available for selection for the T20I format. The southpaw then decided to simply hang up his boots in the one-day format having already quit red-ball cricket.

De Kock was in top form at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. He batted magnificently, scoring 594 runs in 10 innings, an average of 59.40 and a strike rate of 107.02, including 4 centuries. He was the third highest run-getter after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Quinton de Kock's appearance at the 2023 World Cup was his last ever in ODI cricket as he had announced his retirement from 50-over cricket before the competition. It is noteworthy that the wicketkeeper-batter had also announced his Test retirement a few years ago.

Here's what Rob Walter had to say about Quinton de Kock after announcing the squad on Monday:

In conversation with Quinny at the time he retired from ODI cricket [after the World Cup in India that ended last month], his original plan was to retire completely. I asked him to wait before making this decision. He had a big bash opportunity that clashed with the India series. To keep him in the game, this was the solution.”

Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis could be considered for the 2024 T20 World Cup – Rob Walter

South Africa will take on India in a three-match T20I home series. The three-match T20I series will be played on December 10, 12 and 14 in Durban, Gqeberha and Johannesburg. This is the only T20I series the Proteas will play before the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA.

While announcing the squad for the India T20Is, Walter hinted that Quinton de Kock, along with Rilee Rossouw and Faf du Plessis, could also be considered for the 2024 T20 World Cup next year.

“Given that some of our frontline bowlers are missing and there are people - let me mention that just to create some media hype - like Faf (du Plessis) and Rilee (Rossouw) as well as Quinny who are definitely worth considering "a T20 World Cup and then also the SA20 which is next year - 80% of the team is self-selecting but there's definitely room for other guys to come into the conversation," Walter said.