Ken Borland

He was always going to miss the next two Tests against India on paternity leave, but it was confirmed on Thursday night that we have seen the last of Quinton de Kock in Test cricket as the wicketkeeper/batsman announced his retirement from the format.

The 29-year-old made relatively minor contributions with the bat – scoring 34 and 21 – in his final Test as South Africa lost by 113 runs at Centurion on Thursday. It leaves De Kock with a Test record of 3300 runs in 54 matches at an average of 38.82, with six centuries and 22 fifties.

As designated wicketkeeper, that average goes up to 40.12 and of all the glovemen in Test history who have scored more than 2000 runs, only countryman AB de Villiers (57.41), Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower (53.70), Australia’s Adam Gilchrist (47.60), Englishmen Les Ames (43.40) and Matt Prior (40.18), and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (40.48) have averaged more.

De Kock’s reason for retirement is his family, with he and his wife Sasha expecting their first child in the New Year.

“This is not a decision that I have come to very easily,” De Kock said in a statement. “I have taken a lot of time to think about what my future looks like and what needs to take priority in my life now that Sasha and I are about to welcome our first child into this world and look to grow our family beyond that.

“My family is everything to me and I want to have the time and space to be able to be with them during this new and exciting chapter of our lives.

“I love Test cricket and I love representing my country and all that it comes with. I’ve enjoyed the ups and the downs, the celebrations and even the disappointments, but now I’ve found something that I love even more.

“In life, you can buy almost everything except for time, and right now, it’s time to do right by the people that mean the most to me,” De Kock said.

De Kock had the sort of batting x-factor you just can’t buy and was certainly one of the most feared South African batsmen.

But De Kock seemed to be getting worn down by the grind of Test cricket, especially the new normal of bio-secure bubbles, not helped by a fairly disastrous time when he had the captaincy thrust upon him.

If this decision buys De Kock more time in limited-overs cricket – he says he remains fully-committed to the white-ball game – then it will be worth it for the Proteas.

Kyle Verreynne, who has already played two Tests, is the likely successor behind the stumps for the Test team, with Ryan Rickelton waiting in the wings and Heinrich Klaasen another gloveman who has had a taste of Test cricket in the last couple of years.

Having failed to withstand the heat of the Indian attack at SuperSport Park, the Proteas will now hop into the furnace of the Wanderers in the second Test starting on Monday, but captain Dean Elgar says their confidence has not been dented.

South Africa, bowled out for just 197 and 191, lost the first Test by 113 runs in Centurion on Thursday and a struggling batting line-up is going to have to come to terms quickly with the outstanding Indian pace trio of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

“India have a really balanced attack. Shami posed issues for our right-handers and Bumrah always runs in with high energy, he’s always challenging you. You have to be very mindful of both of them,” Elgar said after his brave four-hour 77 was not enough to inspire the rest of the batting line-up, apart from Temba Bavuma, who remained unbeaten on 35.

“And when Mohammed Siraj has his tail up he’s also a bit of a handful.

“But we will not lack confidence going into the Wanderers Test. It’s never nice to lose but we know where we went wrong and we have time to reflect and learn from that.

“You need big runs to compete in Test cricket and we did not execute in the first innings when that was doable. We’ve got to compete against the new ball, but we were behind on the number of runs scored on all four days,” Elgar said.

South Africa’s bowlers also took a while to wake up to what was required, although India’s pacemen certainly enjoyed the benefit of a more lively pitch on the third day as the surface quickened up with the early moisture gone.

India reaching 272/3 at the end of the first day meant they could snooze easily for the rest of the Test match, knowing they were already ahead of the game.

The misguided few will say Dean Elgar is presiding over the corpse of South African cricket, but the Proteas skipper is adamant that his team can take on India, who he readily admits are the best side in the world, blow-for-blow in the series that starts at Centurion on Boxing Day.

India’s recent victory over New Zealand, winners of the inaugural World Test Championship earlier in the year, returned them to the No.1 ranking, with the Proteas currently languishing in sixth place. But India have never won a series in South Africa and Elgar believes this home ground advantage can give them an edge.

“India have been ranked No.1 for quite some time and, in my opinion, they are the top side, the ranking system is there for a reason,” Elgar said on Friday. “But I think the series will be pretty even and playing at home gives us a bit of an upperhand.

“India have improved a lot in terms of their travelling record and Virat Kohli has put a lot of emphasis on winning on the road. Their dream is to win a series here and as captain I’ll be trying to prevent that.

“It makes it an exciting series and we’re extremely mindful that they will come out firing, but then they know we will too. India’s strength is in their bowling, we’re very aware of their success as a unit.

“I’m sure they will exploit South African conditions well, the pitches do a bit more here than elsewhere around the world, but we’ve also got a very good pace attack. The first punch is going to be important,” Elgar said.

Selecting the right attack is going to be a complex issue for the Proteas because, in their expanded squad, they have eight different pace bowling options. But while South Africa have historically been biased towards using the fast men, Elgar all but confirmed that spinner Keshav Maharaj will play at SuperSport Park.

“It’s my home ground and conditions have changed a bit, there is sometimes some turn,” Elgar said. “We want to set the game up for days four and five, when hopefully the pitch will deteriorate a bit.

“Keshav will then come into play and he’s so adaptable that he doesn’t just contain, but he can also be a wicket-taker, a strike bowler at the right time. He’s been pretty amazing for us and we can’t neglect him.

“There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing the pace attack, but we will try to tie in with the style of play we’re trying to implement. We have the luxury of an extended squad so we are able to tick all the boxes.

“I like to think we have all our bases covered in terms of selection. It’s a good headache to have, we can exploit a few options. But I still favour having a spinner in the attack,” Elgar said.

SuperSport Park has been the site of some high scoring in domestic cricket lately, but Proteas captain Dean Elgar knows his batting line-up will “be up against it” in the first Test against India which starts at Centurion on Boxing Day.

In the last four-day match played at SuperSport Park, when the Northerns Titans drew with the KZN Dolphins, 983 runs were scored for the loss of just 21 wickets, with 12 batsmen getting past 40 and two centuries being scored.

“Although there’s been quite a lot of rain recently, Centurion has had a pretty good pitch of late and if you apply yourself as a batsman, put away some shots, then you can get runs under the belt,” Elgar said of his home ground.

But India possess one of the best attacks in world cricket, coming up against a South African batting line-up that is yet to reach its full potential.

“If there’s some extra pace and bounce in the pitch then bowlers can exploit the conditions and there’s always a bit of spice in South Africa, especially on the Highveld.

“India have an immensely improved bowling attack, especially away from home, and we are going to be up against it, but we’re perfectly comfortable with that.

“We feel comfortable at home and it’s going to be tough for India’s batsmen too against our attack. I’d rather be in our changeroom than their’s,” Elgar said.

Elgar led the batting averages for the Proteas the last time India were here, scoring 207 runs at 41.40, in early 2018. South Africa won that series 2-1, but this time there is no AB de Villiers or Hashim Amla or Faf du Plessis. The left-handed opener will have to lead the way again with the bat.

“I naturally always want to lead from the front with the bat and scoring runs is a massive role of mine, let alone being the captain. I will never run away from that responsibility and hopefully I average a little more this series,” Elgar said.

“I know we have a relatively inexperienced batting line-up, but they have an opportunity to take, which is what professional cricket is all about. Either they take it or there are other guys knocking on the door.

“It’s always tough against one of the best attacks in the world. We need to prepare well against the Indian attack, but I believe we are not far away from batsmen coming in and cementing their places.

“India have a well-balanced attack that covers all the bases. So mentally we really need to tap in, being mentally ready is extremely important for me,” Elgar said.