South Africa all-rounder announces international retirement

South Africa all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.

Dwaine Pretorius has 60 caps for South Africa across all three formats, representing South Africa in 30 T20Is, 27 ODIs and three Tests. Pretorius showed his prowess both with the bat and ball in the international arena, aggregating 1895 runs and scalping 77 wickets across formats.

Since making his international debut in 2016, Pretorius was a regular fixture in South Africa's limited-over cricket. He was part of the squads of the 2019 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup and the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

He finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker for South Africa with nine wickets in the five matches in the T20 World Cup in UAE. In the 50-over tournament in 2019, he was adjudged the Player of the Match in South Africa's clash against Sri Lanka for figures 3/25.

His best performance in the shortest format came against Pakistan in Lahore in 2021, where he registered his maiden and only five-wicket haul in international cricket. His figures of 5/17 are currently the best figures for a South African player in men's T20I cricket.

ALSO READ: Sarfaraz Ahmed Test, Babar Azam T20 and Shan Masood likely to lead in ODI

Announcing his retirement, the 33-year-old expressed his desire to play more franchise cricket around the world 'to have a better balance in my career and family life.'

In his statement, Pretorius said: “A few days ago, I made one of the toughest decisions of my cricketing career. I have decided to retire from all forms of international cricket.

"Growing up, my only goal in life was to play for the Proteas. I didn't know how it was going to happen, but God gave me talent and a serious will to succeed. The rest was in his hands.

"I am shifting my focus to T20 and other shorter formats for the rest of my career."

"All the players I have played with and against over the years you have had an impact on my career. It’s so difficult to highlight only one or two because there are so many players that had an impact, but I can mention a few I was fortunate to spend a lot of time with:

Hardus Viljoen, Chris Morris, Nicky van den Bergh, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Steven Cook, Tabraiz Shamsi, Anrich Nortje, Neil Mackenzie and a special mention has to go to Andrea Agathagelou, we spent hours and hours training together in an effort to reach our goal in playing for the Proteas. Without a doubt I would not be where I am today without all your help and support.