STRUGGLES CONTINUE FILE. Quinton de Kock's ongoing form struggles continue as he faltered in the 2025 IPL opener for Kolkata Knight Riders, raising questions about his cricket future. Photo: Sportpicz
Image: Sportpicz
Quinton de Kock made a poor start to his 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign as he was out cheaply for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) over the weekend, but this does not come as much of a surprise as he’s been struggling for form for some time already.
De Kock, opening the batting for KKR against Royal Challengers Bangalore, was out for four after facing five balls in the first over of the innings.
The 32-year-old also struggled in the SA20 as he averaged 19.8 for the Durban Super Giants in 10 matches with a highest score of 55.
His previous season in the SA20 was about the same as he averaged 19.3 from 12 games.
In the 2024 IPL, De Kock was in his third season with the Lucknow Super Giants and made just 250 runs from 11 games. Though he had a highest score of 81, his average again was around the 20 mark with his return of 22.7.
The former Proteas prodigy De Kock announced his shock retirement from Test cricket in 2021 at the age of 29. He would go on to call it quits from One-Day International cricket after the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
While he is still available for the Proteas in T20 Internationals, his form, which has become noticeably more inconsistent, and he has already not featured for South Africa since the ill-fated T20 World Cup final against India in June last year.
The left-handed batsman also no longer has a national contract, but he has not announced his retirement from the format at international level. However, it seems he may not need to as he may not even be considered in the future unless his form picks up dramatically.
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