Jacques Kallis happy to time his retirement right
Jacques Kallis has said that he doesn’t regret his decision to retire from One Day Internationals (ODIs), which he announced this July, despite that ruling him out of contention for the 2015 World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand. The former South African all-rounder had earlier expressed his desire to play till the showpiece event, but is now confident that he has made the right choice to opt out of it.
In an interview to ESPNcricinfo, the 38-year-old said: "I have always said the day I wake up and I don't have that feeling of wanting to play international cricket, I'll call it quits and that's exactly what happened.
"I was always going to be honest with myself about that. It would have been nice to get through to the 2015 World Cup but I'm certainly not going to play if I am even 1% off from where I should be for international cricket."
The right-hander made scores of 0,1 and 4 in the last three innings that he batted, in the ODI series against Sri Lanka that his side won.
"I know I have made the right choice. I sleep comfortably at night. I felt I had spent enough time away from home, other things were more important than international cricket to me," Kallis added.
Calls ‘chokers’ tag as a joke
Responding to the ‘chokers’ tag associated with South African Cricket, the 38-year-old, who retired from Test cricket in December 2013 after the match against India, dismissed it as a “joke” and also insisted that the term is being “overused”. Despite being a part of five unsuccessful World Cup campaigns, Kallis felt that "little things have gone wrong at the wrong time" for South Africa in the global events so far.
"Somewhere along the line I can guarantee you South Africa will win a World Cup and the way the team is playing at the moment, there's no reason it can't be the one coming up,” he further added.
KKR a cleverly chosen side
Kallis, who is in India currently representing the 2014 Indian Premier League champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Champions League T20, when asked about the T20 outfit’s incredible 12-match unbeaten run and the reason behind their success, said: “The side was very cleverly and well chosen. Sometimes being a good cricketer doesn't mean you are going to become a good team man. The side has very much been selected on guys getting on well off the field which sometimes plays a massive role on the field."