Kallis retires from international cricket
Posted by Unknown
Posted on 9:20 PM
with No comments
JacquesKallis has announced his retirement from international cricket, across all
three formats. The South Africa
batsman had quit Tests late last year and decided to call time on his
limited-overs career after the recent poor one-day tour of Sri Lanka .
BD CRICKET NEWS
Kallis will, however,
continue to play T20 franchise cricket for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL and
for Sydney Thunder in the BBL. He ends his ODI career with 11579 runs in 328
matches with 17 centuries and 86 fifties at an average of 44.36. He played 25
T20s, scoring 666 runs with five fifties. He is the only South African batsman
with over 10,000 runs in Tests and ODIs. Kallis had played his final Test in
December 2013 against India
in Durban , finishing
with 13,289 runs in 166 matches with 45 centuries, 58 fifties at an average of
55.37. His last T20 was in October 2012.
Kallis, 38, had plans
of playing the 2015 World Cup and was part of South Africa 's ODI plans in the
build-up. However, he managed scores of just 0,1 and 4 in the three ODIs in Sri Lanka
recently.
BD CRICKET NEWS |
|
"I realised in Sri Lanka
that my dream of playing in a World Cup was a bridge too far," Kallis said
in a statement. "Ï just knew on that tour that I was done. The squad that
was in Sri Lanka
is an amazing one and I believe they have a good chance of bringing the trophy
home in March.
"I would like to
thank Cricket South Africa , the team, the team
sponsors, my sponsors, the fans and all the people who have been involved in my
career. It has been an amazing journey.
"I am not
retiring from all cricket as I have a two-year contract with the Sydney Thunder
and, if possible, to help the Kolkata Knight Riders defend the IPL title we won
earlier this year."
Kallis' ODI future
was in the balance last year when he went on a ODI hiatus for a year and nine
months. He had opted out of the 2013 Champions Trophy for personal
reasons and did not join the team for a limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka in August and the Pakistan series
in the UAE. He used the winter break to reassess his future and spoke to coach
Russell Domingo about playing one more global tournament. He thus made
a return for the home ODIs against Pakistan
and India
towards the end of 2013. However, he was well below his best since his return,
scoring just one fifty in seven games.
The national
selectors were planning to rest a few players for the upcoming
three-match bilateral ODI series in Zimbabwe , but send a full-strength
squad for the tri-series to follow. The challenge for the selectors
was to build the team around Kallis and in the past, Faf du Plessis was left
out to accommodate him.
"South Africa
has been blessed with one of the world's greatest cricketing talents in Jacques
Kallis," said CSA chief executive Harpoon Lorgat. "He is undeniably
one of the greatest players ever to have graced our wonderful game and he has
certainly been the Protease standard-bearer of excellence for nearly two
decades.
"He has played a
huge part in making cricket a truly national sport of winners and, in doing so,
contributed so much to the important process of nation building. He is a true
professional and it has been an absolute privilege to have worked with him both
as Convener of selectors and now as chief executive."
"To say that we
will miss him on the playing field is stating the obvious. Each one of us from
this day on will treasure the many fond memories of his awesome career."
Though he had an
illustrious career as a batsman, spanning close to 19 years, he was never a
full-time captain. He led the side in two Tests, both at home against Australia and
13 ODI’s as a stop-gap.