I'm not a man for records: Jacques Kallis

South Africa's Jacques Kallis is carried by teammates after he retired from Test cricket at end of the fifth and final day of second Test against India at Kingsmead in Durban. (AP Photo)

DURBAN: Was there a tear in his eye? We will never know, since Jacques Kallis had his sunglasses on. Was there a lump in his throat? It couldn't be heard, since he is too private a person. He doesn't give anything away, just as he never gave an inch on the field. 

Now that the battles have been won and lost, it's time to look back. The game will miss Kallis but Kallis will miss the game too. "As I sat in that dressing-room today, I saw that nothing much has changed since that day when I made my debut 18 years back. Maybe I have changed a bit, lost and grown a bit of hair," Kallis said, as there was a roll of laughter in the press-conference room. 

The lap of honour was done by then. Graeme Smith, sporting a T-shirt with Kallis' farewell picture, had spoken about the man and the dais was now open for the legend. Time and again, he kept going back to the moments that he would miss. "The wins and the losses, the joys and sorrows, the happy moments and the difficult ones. There are so many of them," Kallis said. 

The greatest cricketer of the modern era knows he will wake up and miss the game, but he has understood there's more to life. There was an eight-month break from the game that gave him perspective. Now he wants to look ahead. "Yes, maybe a swing at the golf course," he said, smiling. 

But his cricket career is not done. And even in this nostalgia surge, he suddenly gets serious when someone asks him about his ODI career. "Now that my Test career is over, I will see where I stand in terms of one-day cricket. I will work on a few aspects of my ODI game," Kallis said. He gave the impression that he was serious about his World Cup aspirations. 

Kallis has lost a lot in life. His mother passed away when he was a kid. His father, who was there at his debut game, too is no more. Girlfriends have come and gone and Kallis was frank enough to thank three of them during the press conference. But for now what he treasures most is his sister's presence at Kingsmead on Monday. "We used to play together as kids. Then as we grew older, life started drifting us apart, now it's time to get back. My father was there on my debut, it was my sis today." 

Kallis could easily have bagged a farewell series for himself. The Australia series at home is just round the corner and entire South Africa would have been happy to give him a grand reception. At least, he could have chosen to play his farewell Test at home in Cape Town. "Why didn't you do it?" somebody asked, and Kallis smiled again. "What to do? That's how I am. Probably that's my nature. I just felt my time was up in Test cricket and I told Graeme about it. It wasn't an easy decision, but it had to be taken, right away." 

There were a few records to be broken as well. 51 Test centuries, 200 Tests — everything could so easily have been in his grasp, but Kallis let it go. "Not a man for records, Sachin is great. I am happy to have played with him," Kallis said, leaving the stage
.

Hi guys If u like this post please leave a comment in comment box... comment box will top right of every post and bottom of every post. its useful for me give a better information.. check top of the blog there is menu bar in that go to comments i replied for u r comments because there is no direct option for reply for u r comments. if u want to give any suggestion in bottom of blog there is contact information option please leave a msgs with u r mail id sure i will get u.