Disappointed by South Africa’s meek surrender in the just-concluded Test series against India, retired former captain Graeme Smith said after seeing his ex-teammates struggle so much, he might consider returning to international cricket.
Smith, who will be seen in the Masters Champions league (MCl) for the Virgo Super Kings franchise, said seeing the decimation, coming out of retirement has become a serious thought on his mind.
“Who knows the MCl could be a platform back into the international game,” Smith told ‘The National’ newspaper.
“I get asked this question a lot. It does spend time in your head, especially when you see the boys struggling in India you think you can contribute, but we’ll see. I’ll go back train, prepare and get ready for the MCl,” the 34-year-old.
“For me, I’m at the cusp of whether I should play international cricket again or not,” he said. “I’m 34 now, (I) retired at 33, there’s always that question mark of whether I can play for another 3-4 years. I know I can. But, it’s just about ... I’m at the cusp. I’m looking forward to the MCl and take it from there,” he added.
Speaking about the debacle in India, Smith said the Proteas were probably psyched out by the tough nature of the wickets and could really not recover from that.
“I think we just got a little bit in our own way in this series. When you play on tough wickets, whether it’s green, seamy wickets or spinning wickets, margins become very small and we lost out on those margins always early on in the Tests and were always playing catch-up.
“It looked like we just got in our own head a little bit in terms of the wickets. Yes they were tough, both teams had to play on the same surface,” he said.
South Africa’s Test captain Hashim Amla was a massive flop in the series but Smith said the veteran should not be criticised too much.
“look I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Hashim Amla. He’s had a tough run, we’ve all had those tough runs. He’s a man of immense character and well-respected in the environment. He needs time, it’s his first challenge as a captain now and how he bounces back from this will speak volumes for him and the team. I think we need to always give him that opportunity now to bounce back and how he brings the guys through. This England tour now becomes an important challenge for him as a leader,” Simth said.
‘fiery spell has given confidence’
New Delhi: Umesh Yadav’s fiery spell right after tea helped India end South Africa’s vigil in the fourth Test and that spirited effort has given the fast bowler much needed confidence in his start-stop career.
Yadav on Monday produced a serious spell of fast bowling that saw him snare three wickets in six maiden overs in the final session. He ended with figures of 21-16-9-3.
“Throughout my Test career, I have played a match here or a couple there; never really had a few games at the stretch. But after this spell, my confidence has gone really high. I felt that whatever I have learnt so far, whether while playing Test cricket or going back to domestic cricket, I could make it count in this spell,” said Yadav.
What was his mindset going into the final sessionIJ “I told myself that this is the last Test match I am going to play for the next six months,” he was quoted as saying by bcci.Tv. And this moment — the chance to beat South Africa 3-0 by winning a Test like this — will never come back again. All I wanted was that one wicket.”
Yadav removed Dane Vilas and Kyle Abbott with fast inswingers before getting Dane Piedt caught behind to set up the series-victory at Kotla.