Smith announces resignation from T20 captaincy
South African cricket skipper, Graeme Smith has announced that he will no longer lead the team in the T20 format of the game. Smith called a press conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday and made the announcement. He also announced that he will captain the ODI side till the end of the World Cup next year, after which he will give the post away.
South Africa’s recent run of form in international games has been anything but appealing. Apart from a very successful tour of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 have lost in the Super Eight stage of the ICC World T20 and failed to qualify for the Champions Trophy semi-final in South Africa last year. They also lost the ODI series to England 1-2, and drew the Test series against the same opposition 1-1.
Smith was named the captain of the South African side in 2003, immediately after the 2003 edition of the World Cup. It was a home World Cup for the Proteas and yet, under the captaincy of Shaun Pollock, the side were bundled out in the first round of the tournament. Pollock was replaced by Smith as the captain, and since then, Smith has remained at the top.
Under Smith, the side reached the semi-final of the 2007 edition of the World Cup before losing to the eventual champions, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, while getting to the number one position in the Test match format. They also beat Australia in Australia, but did not have a great time in the T20 format. In the three T20 World Cups, South Africa has been bundled out before the semi-finals twice, and have only made it to one semi-final.
It is said that one of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AB-de-Villiers-c887 will replace Smith as the captain in this format of the game. Botha has captained South African before in Smith’s absence due to injuries.
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