Decided To Take A Different Path After Lord’s Test, Says JP Duminy
Oct 12, 2017 at 2:15 PM
Almost a month after announcing his shocking retirement from Test and first-class cricket, South Africa star JP Duminy has revealed he had made up his mind well before announcing his decision. The left-handed batsman said that he had decided to hang up his boots after his failure in the Lord’s Test against England in July where he scored 15 and two as his team was thrashed by 211 runs.
According to the 33-year old, the failure made he realise that a ‘change needed to happen’ and when he was sent home from the tour after the second Test, it more or less concreted his thoughts before he finally revealed the decision.
“Walking off after Lord’s, I felt a change needed to happen. I rightly deserved to be dropped. There were guys putting up their hands for places and I felt I needed a different path,” Duminy said in Bloemfontein, ahead of the South African Invitation XI’s match against the touring Bangladesh team.
Duminy, who was drafted in at number 4 after AB de Villiers took a sabbatical from the Test team last year, scored 2103 runs in the longest format of the game with the help of 6 centuries and eight half-centuries.
The left-handed batsman further expressed his disappointment over the postponement of the T20 Global League.
“It is disappointing, not just from a South African point of view but also from a global point of view. I think the manner in which it has been postponed is the most disappointing. I’m hoping it’s not the end. I’m hoping it can recover and we can come to a consensus about the way forward,” said Duminy who was set to lead Cape Town Knight Riders in the inaugural season of the league.
Duminy further said that he wants to win the World Cup and admitted he needs to put up consistent performances to make it to the tournament.
“Every player wants to win the World Cup but we still have a long way to go. To be there, I have to keep putting in good performances,” Duminy said.