South African Cricketer Graeme Smith Set to Quit Twenty20 Captaincy
Despite leading his team to a Test series win in Australia, West Indies and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, the captain of the South African cricket team, Graeme Smith, has failed to relieve his team of the ‘chokers’ tag as the rainbow nation is still dreaming of an elusive World Cup title in either the 50-over or 20-over formats.
Smith, who started out as one of the youngest captains in the history of the game back in 2003, has led his team to four world championships in the two formats, yet has failed to break the jinx that has afflicted South African cricket ever since their readmission in International cricket in 1991.
Smith was named captain at the ripe old age of 22, after Shaun Pollock’s tenure ended with his team’s disastrous campaign in the fifty-over World Cup that his team hosted in 2003; the hosts were dumped out in the opening round of the tournament after humiliating defeats at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758.
Since taking over, the left-handed burly opener has been a mainstay at the top of the order for his team, scoring valuable runs in all formats of the game. However, it is the instant Twenty20 format that has not favoured his style of play much.
Smith is someone who generally takes his time to settle down and that is a trait that does not make one a successful batsman in the crash-boom-bang and wallop format of the game.
His leadership has also been orthodox at times, which has resulted in defeats at crucial stages of T20 World Championships in the last three years.
The inaugural T20 Championship was hosted by the South Africans, and amid high hopes Smith’s team was tipped as one of the favourites for the event. However, their journey was cut short in the Super Eights stage by eventual champions http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
They came agonisingly close the second time around, but once again their run in the competition was halted, and this time it was Pakistan who cornered them in a typical back against the wall performance in the semifinals of the 2009 edition (that was eventually won by Pakistan).
The same fate awaited the Proteas in the 2010 edition that was played in the West Indies, and Smith’s team once again ran into a red-hot Pakistan line-up that sent them packing out of the competition in the last match of their Super Eights campaign at St. Lucia.
Before the advent of the T20 World Championship, the South Africans choked at the semifinal stage of the 2007 50 overs World Cup in the Caribbean, where they were blown away by eventual champions http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in one of the most one-sided encounters in the history of the tournament.
After the latest disaster in the Caribbean, the South African media had called for the retirement of Smith from the Twenty20 format, as he is considered too conventional for the game along with seasoned pros like Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher.
Finally, after months of speculation, the southpaw is set to relinquish his throne in the Twenty20 format, and hand over the reins to a younger, fitter and keener captain (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AB-de-Villiers-c887 are considered to be front-runners for the post) as Smith has time and again pointed out that leading his country in all three formats was an arduous task for him.
Smith is expected to make the announcement later today in a press conference that he has convened; however, it remains to be seen if he is willing to make himself available for International Twenty20 matches as a batsman only.
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