Graeme Smith hint s at international return after South Africa's humiliation in India
After South Africa were routed 3-0 in the four-Test series against South Africa, retired former skipper Graeme Smith hinted at a possible comeback to the international arena in a bid to help his ex-teammates.
After South Africa were routed 3-0 in the four-Test series against South Africa, retired former skipper Graeme Smith hinted at a possible comeback to the international arena in a bid to help his ex-teammates.
South Africa's record run of an unbeaten streak in away series since 2006 came to an end in Nagpur. The 337-run defeat in Delhi marked only the third time since their readmission when the Proteas lost more than two Tests in a series.
Smith retired in 2014 after South Africa's 2-1 series defeat against Australia at home. However, the left-handed batsman, who will appear for the Virgo Super Kings in the Masters Champions League (MCL), said he was seriously contemplating coming out of retirement after South Africa's decimation at the hands of India's spinners.
"Who knows the MCL could be a platform back into the international game," Smith told 'The National' newspaper.
"I am 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, who retired last year, said.
"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. I'm looking forward to the MCL and take it from there," he added.
Smith felt the Proteas were most likely psyched out by the nature of the pitches and could not bounce back after being traumatised by Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who took 31 and 23 wickets respectively.
"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," he said.
"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.
Smith said the team needs to unwind a bit now after the grueling 72-day trip to India.
"It has put us under a little bit of pressure for the end of the year. England's a big tour back in South Africa, four Tests, so the guys need to go back home. They've been in India for a very long time, they need to have a bit of fun for a week, see their families, relax, catch their breath, because four Tests against England will be very exciting now," he said.
South African captain Hashim Amla has been criticised over the defeats but Smith felt the blame should not be pinned on his successor.
"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," Smith said.
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