South Africa star Van Niekerk calls time on international career

"It is with great sadness that I announce my retirement from international cricket," said Van Niekerk in a media release on Thursday.

"It has been the greatest honour to lead and represent my country. I am incredibly blessed to have led the team through its transformative years.

"There is no doubt that the women's game is in an exciting space and looking forward to seeing this beautiful game that I love grow."

Van Niekerk, who is a regular in domestic T20 leagues around the world, missed the recent Women's T20 World Cup on home soil after she failed to meet the fitness criteria set out by Cricket South Africa.

In an interview with Cricbuzz she added: "I promised the team the strongest, leanest Dane they've had in many years and I gave them that, but I guess it was unfortunately not enough."

She is currently playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Women's Premier League.

Van Niekerk scored 4,074 runs and took 204 wickets across all formats in international cricket.

She is one of only six female cricketers to claim more than 1,000 runs, 50 wickets and 50 catches in the One-Day format.