South Africa's Theunis de Bruyn retires from international cricket at the age of 30

In a disappointing development for South African cricket, the team’s 30-year-old batter Theunis de Bruyn has called it a day on his international cricket career. It is not the first time a South African player has ended his career at a young age.

Quinton de Kock retired from Test cricket in 2021/22, while the likes of AB de Villiers and Dwaine Pretorius retired from international cricket early to focus on T20 leagues. 

Theunis de Bruyn did not mention the reason behind his early retirement, but the 30-year-old star said that he is excited to see what’s next for him in the future. In a statement on the website of his domestic team Titans, de Bruyn wrote today: 

“I’ve been fortunate to represent my country at the highest level of cricket and that’s been the proudest moment of my career. The bonds I’ve formed, lessons I’ve learnt, skills I’ve developed and my growth as a human being would not have been possible without the experience of playing international cricket.”

Who is Theunis de Bruyn? 

In case you didn’t know, Theunis de Bruyn was born in Pretoria and played international cricket for the South African men’s cricket team in two formats of the game. Theunis played 13 Test matches and two T20Is for his nation. 

His aim was to make the number three batting position in the South African batting lineup his own spot, but he could not do so. In 13 Tests for his nation, he scored 468 runs at an average of 19.5. He smashed one century as well. 

His last appearance for the South African cricket team came in a Test match against the Australian cricket team last year in Melbourne. It was the Boxing Day Test match. After that, he played for the Pretoria Capitals team in SA20.