Quinton de Kock and MS Dhoni (Agency Photos) South Africa’s wicket-keeper-batter Quinton de Kock has made a remarkable return to international cricket after coming out of retirement. In his first ODI series against Pakistan at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium, he demonstrated exceptional batting prowess.De Kock opened for South Africa in all three matches, accumulating 239 runs with one century and two half-centuries. His outstanding performance earned him the Player of the Series award as the highest run-scorer.This achievement marked De Kock’s seventh Player of the Series award in ODI cricket. The South African wicketkeeper-batsman has now equalled MS Dhoni’s world record for most Player of the Series awards by a wicket-keeper in ODI history.MS Dhoni secured seven Player of the Series awards during his illustrious 15-year ODI career from December 2004 to July 2019. Both De Kock and Dhoni lead the list of wicketkeepers with the most series awards, followed by Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim with six awards.In the final ODI against Pakistan, De Kock contributed 53 runs from 70 balls. However, following his dismissal, South Africa experienced a dramatic collapse, being bowled out for 143 runs in 37.5 overs.During this match, De Kock reached another milestone by completing 7,000 ODI runs for South Africa. He achieved this feat as the second-fastest batsman in ODI cricket history.Former Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar holds the overall record for most Player of the Series awards in ODI cricket. Throughout his career spanning more than two decades, Tendulkar won 15 awards from 108 series.Virat Kohli and Sanath Jayasuriya share the second position with eleven Player of the Series awards each. They are followed by Shaun Pollock with nine awards and Chris Gayle with eight.Several cricket legends, including Viv Richards, Hashim Amla, Yuvraj Singh, Shakib Al Hasan, Sourav Ganguly, Ricky Ponting, and MS Dhoni, have each won seven Player of the Series awards in their ODI careers.De Kock’s recent performance not only highlights his successful comeback but also places him among cricket’s elite performers in ODI cricket. His achievement of equaling Dhoni’s record as a wicketkeeper adds another significant milestone to his career.
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