Amla rules out SA return, blames transition for India drubbing

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Former South African swashbuckling batsman Hashim Amla, who called it quits earlier this year, ruled out rolling back his decision for return to the national team.

After the latest drubbing of South Africa at the hands of India during the ongoing Test series speculation was rife that Amla or AB de Villiers, who also took retirement recently, could make a return to the squad.

South Africa have been on a skid since the World Cup in England earlier this year. They went into the showpiece event as heavy favourites but failed to make semi-finals.

Amla is considered one of the finest batsmen in Test and one-day internationals (ODIs) with his impressive record in both the formats.

“There is no way I will make a comeback in the national team. I have called it quits to the international cricket after serving my country for 15 years,” said Amla in Abu Dhabi.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi T10 players’ draft. He was roped in by Karnataka Tuskers as their Icon Player. Amla hung his gloves in August just after the cricket extravaganza in England.

He also attributed transition as the reason for the South Africa’s mauling at the World Cup and then in India.

“Proteas are going through a period of transition as quite a few frontline players have taken retirement. This definitely has a bearing on the performance of the team which is quite evident,” said the flamboyant batsman.

“In the past two years a few of us, who have been around for decade or so, have walked away from the international scene so it is always going to happen that the team will take some time.

“If you look back, all the teams in the world, they do go through a transition phase and we are also going through the same.”

Amla is one of the finest openers of all time and has the distinction of reaching the milestones of 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, 6,000 and 7,000 runs quickest in the ODIs.

“I have no doubt, if given some time, backing and the confidence in the current players the team will find their feet again and once again they will be a quality team as they have always been.

“As everybody in the team and I know how good they are. International experience is such a thing that you get only after two or three years. And it is time for all those players to get their feet in,” added the right-handed batsman, who plays in the franchise cricket around the world after taking retirement.

Amla has scored more than 17,000 runs across Test and ODI formats together. He has also scored 55 centuries in both the formats put together. He also became the second fastest to score 8,000 runs in ODIs in the match against New Zealand at the recently concluded World Cup.

He will be seen in action for the first time at AD T10.

It is the only ten-over league, which is sanctioned by Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) and recognised by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

He will rub his shoulders along with contemporaries like Darren Sammy of West Indies, who guided them to two World T20 titles, and Eoin Morgan of England, who won the first 50-over World Cup for his country, at the AD T10 that gets under way in November in Abu Dhabi.

Commenting on the shortest format of the game that is also being speculated to be cricket’s doorway to the Olympics, Amla said: “Yes, it is a very different format. Probably, the first time I played in this format was 30 years ago in the backyard of my brother.

“But it is a fanastic concept. Cricket’s landscape has changed over the last five or ten years and it is just a matter of time T10 becomes a regular feature of international roster,” he added.

“I am really excited and relishing the prospect of playing in this format,” said Amla.