Today is a sad for international cricket – although it is also definitely cause to celebrate. The King of cricket, Jacques Kallis, has just announced his retirement from international cricket.
Kallis announced that he is retiring from all forms of international cricket – although that doesn’t mean that we won’t see the master on the cricking stage, for at least a few more years.
In a statement released by Cricket South Africa, Kallis said that on the Proteas recent tour in Sri Lanka that he finally realized that his international cricketing days were over, even though he wanted to push for just one more World Cup.
But fans of the cricketing genius can breathe a sigh of relief as he still has a two-year contract with Sydney Thunder which will no doubt see him perform to the very best of his abilities.
He also said in his statement that he would like to help his winning IPL team, the Kolkata Knight Riders defend their title – so we can hopefully still see him bashing out the balls in the IPL.
He also thanked the CSA and South Africa for supporting him in his career:
“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”
The CSA, while being sad to see him go (naturally) also released a statement where they thanked him for his immense contribution to the game and his presence as a whole in South African cricket:
“South Africa has been blessed with one of the world’s greatest cricketing talents in Jacques Kallis. He is undeniably one of the greatest players ever to have graced our wonderful game and he has certainly been the Proteas standard-bearer of excellence for nearly two decades… [sic] 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”
Sure, it is sad to see Kallis retire from the international stage, but we know his presence will never ever be forgotten. We wish you all the best King Kallis.
Source: Sport24
