South Africa Cricket News: Dane van Niekerk announces retirement from international cricket

South Africa Cricket News confirms that skipper Dane Van Niekerk retires from all forms of Cricket. She decided to announce the decision via social handles. The Proteas Captain was struggling for form and she got rejected due to fitness issues multiple times. She was dropped from the Proteas' squad for the recently concluded T20 World Cup. She last featured in an international game against West Indies in an ODI match on September 19 in 2021.

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South Africa Cricket News:

The spin bowling all-rounder spent most of the time beside the sidelines due to a broken ankle she sustained in November 2021. However, upon her return, she failed to meet the national team's fitness requirements. She was dropped from the World Cup squad. The national team replaced her with Suné Luus, who captained the side to their maiden World Cup final. The fitness standards require South Africa's female cricketers to run 2 kilometers in 9 minutes and 30 seconds. Dane van Niekerk fell short of the cut-off time by 18 seconds.

She is now a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad in the ongoing Women's Premier League (WPL). The Bangalore franchise acquired her for the base price of INR 30 lakhs at the auction held in December.

Van Niekerk played 107 ODIs for South Africa, aggregating 2175 runs and racking up 138 wickets. She featured in 86 T20I games, amassing 1877 runs at a strike rate of 94.94 and collecting 65 wickets at an economy of 5.45. She played her only Test against India in 2014 in Mysore, in which she picked up a single wicket.