JOHANNESBURG: Former South African captain and all-rounder Dane van Niekerk has decided to retire from international cricket, ESPN Cricinfo reported on Saturday.
Taking to Instagram, Niekerk hinted at calling time on her decorated career without directly announcing her retirement.
“You have to accept that some chapters in our lives have to close without closures,” wrote Niekerk on her Instagram story.
“There is no point in losing yourself by trying to fix what’s meant to stay broken,” she added.
Notably, Niekerk’s statement came one and a half months after she was left out of the Proteas squad for the recently-held ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023.
Niekerk failed to make it to the national contingent as the all-rounder did not meet Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) fitness requirements.
In Niekerk’s absence, all-rounder Sune Luus led South Africa to their maiden World Cup final, which they lost to the eventual champions Australia.
Niekerk, who made her international debut in 2009, represented South Africa in 107 ODIs and 86 T20Is. She scored a total of 4,052 runs and picked up 203 wickets across formats.
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JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s all-format captain Dane van Niekerk has been left out of the Proteas squad for the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2022.
According to the details, Niekerk failed to make it to the national contingent as the all-rounder did not meet Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) fitness requirements.
In Niekerk’s absence, all-rounder Sune Luus will lead South Africa in the upcoming mega event.
“Dané was given an extensive opportunity to meet the minimum criteria, or the fitness benchmark for eligibility into the World Cup,” Clinton du Preez, women’s selection convener said.
“She recently did another fitness test and unfortunately did not meet the minimum criteria, and therefore she’s missed out. It’s purely based on the not meeting of the fitness criteria that she’s missed out,” she added.
Meanwhile, following her omission, the all-rounder took to the microblogging website to express her grief over the decision.
“Absolutely BROKEN,” Niekerk wrote on Instagram.
It is pertinent to mention that the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup will take place from February 10 to 26 in South Africa.
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