Graeme Smith considering to revoke international retirement

South Africa lost the Test series 3-0 to India yesterday and the results seem to have deeply impacted former skipper Graeme Smith. Smith who is in Dubai for the Masters Champions League (MCL) auctions was quoted by a certain section of the media saying that looking at the current state of the team and the way the struggled in India he might well consider revoking his retirement.

Smith had retired from international cricket in March 2015 and agreed that he’s at the cusp of taking a decision that might well see him return to international cricket and play for South Africa again. The National quoted him saying, “For me, I’m at the cusp of whether I should play international cricket again or not,”

“I’m 34 now. I retired at 33 and 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. Who knows the MCL could be a platform back into the international game.

“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 former skipper agreed that the national team was never quite there and were always catching up with the hosts in the 4-match Test series which they eventually conceded 0-3. “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, (but) both teams had to play on the same surface.”

Despite the outcome he continues to have faith in the current lot of players and the skipper Hashim Amla who himself was out of colors throughout the series apart from his marathon block-knock in the final innings. Smith said he believes the approaching series against England will be really crucial for Amla as skipper and his team.

“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 added. “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 (see) how he brings the guys through. This England tour now becomes an important challenge for him as a leader.”

The Proteas are now scheduled to play England in a 4-Test match series, which starts from December 26 while the 34-year-old feels that some of the players who featured in the India series should spend some time out of the game, spend some time with their families and relax ahead of England’s tour. “It (the result in India) has put us under a little bit of pressure for the end of the year,” he said. “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.”

South Africa will also play England in a 4-ODI and 2-T20I series following the Test series.