Why was Jacques Kallis never given a run as South African captain in all formats?

[SLcric123]

I admit I haven't followed SA cricket much before 2010. However, it is surprising why someone like Jacques Kallis, who was such an integral member of SA team, never really captained SA or got the consistent run as captain?

SA team were involved in match-fixing scandals during Cronje's stint as captain around 2000-01. He was then replaced by Shaun Pollock who heart-brokenly resigned from captaincy after WC loss in 2003. Then should not Kallis be given the captaincy role as he was integral memeber of the team by then?

In contrast, a younger player like Graeme Smith was made captain and I think there was a short stint of captaincy by Mark Boucher as well.

Can anyone like clarify the scenario going around at that time and why Kallis never got a captaincy run for SA in such a long period of his career?

Discuss!

 

[Sam99]

I feel he was their key player and all rounder as well so would have been alot workload on him.

 

[SLcric123]

[MENTION=97523]Buffet[/MENTION]!

 

[SLcric123]

I feel he was their key player and all rounder as well so would have been alot workload on him.

But you make your key player only as captain. Almost every single legend(not bowlers) has had a captaincy run for their country.

Workload can be a reason but they gave captaincy to a young Graeme Smith, which means there wasn't any option.

 

[InziRules]

He was not captain material. Smith was.

It was a brave decision, and it paid off.

 

[The_Odd_One]

His workload was enormous and he was not a leader.

 

[msb314]

I guess there was no reason to replace Smith or Pollock as captain. Both were great leaders and justified their place in the team as top bowlers and batsman.

 

[todfod 11]

May be south African cricket didnt realise Kallis would would go onto play for so long at that point of time.. so they were looking for some one young who can captain the side for a long run.

 

[BaankeJi]

He was not captain material. Smith was.

It was a brave decision, and it paid off.

Yes. I think this is the reason.

Similar thing happened when they made Markram captain. Markram was the only player selectors thought was a captaincy material.

 

[Ab Fan]

Quite a few reasons behind it:-

Firstly, Kallis seemed a misfit as a captain. He wasn't seen as a captaincy material. That's number one.

Secondly, post Shaun Pollock captaincy run and the 2003 WC heartbreak, South African management wanted the next captain to be a young face, someone who wasn't the part of the South African team who were involved in match-fixing back in 2000.

Hence, they made a brave decision of giving the mantle to a young Graeme Smith who eventually went on to become one of the greatest captains of all-time and led SA to memorable series wins away from home. He captained the team till retirement.

 

[Buffet]

[MENTION=97523]Buffet[/MENTION]!

His workload was a lot because he used to bowl long spells, but main reason was SA decided to give a young captain a long run. Same thing is happening right now and hopefully output is somewhat similar to Smith. I don't think that Kallis wanted the role to start with.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Graeme Smith was a born leader, you could see with how he carried himself, how he talked and how he marshalled his team. He was also tactically very good. Kallis wasn't that strong guy they needed at the helm plus his workload was a bit too much to be considered for captaincy in all formats. Back then split captaincy was an unknown thing.

 

[Pete Rose]

because he was soft.

 

[Bhaijaan]

G.Smith had a huge captaincy stint probably the longest in modern history for a captain i guess. They never really had a solid reason to replace him. But it was strange how he became leader at barely 21.

 

[Hasan123]

Probably due to his workload and I don't think he was interested in the role.

 

[Savak]

I am sure at the time when they appointed Smith as captain in 2003, the thinking was that if Smith failed as a captain then either Boucher or Kallis could be seen as potential options. However Smith commanded such a hold and respect that Cricket South Africa did not see the need to look at other captaincy options.

In any case Kallis was a very relaxed, laid back individual who didn't really strike as someone who wanted to be captain.

 

[Swashbuckler]

He always looked like a shy introvert, kinda like Sachin. Such people can work better from behind the scenes as captain's ears rather than assuming charge. Like the backstage boys who are the engines behind any successful college fest but hardly get acknowledged .