The irrationality factor of sport

The three match ODI series between South Africa and India was supposed to be one of the most competitive this year. 
It was not.

South Africa dominated India in the first two ODIs and scored 301/8 in the third before rain prevented a result. SA won the series 2-0. In all three games Quinton de Kock (20) scored a century. He received man of the series for this.  

Quinton de Kock (20) scored his first century of the series in pink. sports.ndtv.com aptly gave this photo the caption: "Baby-faced 'pink panther' Quinton de Kock takes Proteas to win in 1st ODI". Image taken from sports.ndtv.com.

This is why I love sport: Things happen that shouldn't.

Wigan beat Chelsea last season (football), Ireland nearly beat New Zealand this year (rugby), football players are judged to he worthy of extreme prices but profusely fail to live up to their designated values, and a 20 year old scores three consecutive centuries against the world number one ODI side (cricket).

These are all unpredictable occurrences that defy logic. Common sense cannot comprehend these events and has to turn its face away.

For English football fans this picture needs no explanation. For everyone else: A few years before Fernando Torres (29) came to Chelsea he was one of the best strikers in European football. Going to Chelsea, one of the better clubs in England, he received a contract worth 50 million pounds. Since then Torres has not been nearly effective. Image taken from http://www.lfcreds.com/.

In this ODI series the Proteas batsmen actually played spin better than pace, dispatching the spinners all around the ground for numerous fours and sixes. I have never seen South Africans do so well against spinners, and against Indian spinners nogal! India does not just have world-class spinners, they have world-class spinners on the bench, or unselected. Think Ashwin, Jadeja, Mishra, Ojha, Chawla...

India were (and are) the number one ODI team. South Africa are currently tied fourth with Sri Lanka. The demolition of India in the ODI series demonstrates either two things: 

1) India are still very poor away from home and their success in cricket and position in the ICC rankings is primarily due to the abundance of cricket they play at home.
2) The Proteas were simply much better than the Indian team.

Why is it that in sport we see the best lose against the worst and the most unlikely and unpredictable things happen? 

Whatever the reason, this factor makes sport all the more interesting. 

Despite the ODI series going the way it did (illogically), I am still looking forward to the Test series as I think it will be more competitive.

One last thought: the Proteas' dominance of India was predominantly facilitated by the brilliance of Quinton de Kock. Why can't he be placed in the Test squad?

Should Jacques Kallis retire now?

It seems that in recent talk from Jacques Kallis, CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat and Proteas coach Russell Domingo that while they would all like Kallis's experience in the 2015 World Cup, form will be a factor. Thus they say they will monitor his performance "season by season". 

Read the story here: http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/story/663705.html  

Jacques Kallis (37) has made 11,498 runs in 321 ODIs for the Proteas. Image taken from http://www.espncricinfo.com

My Opinion

Kallis's performances for South African cricket cannot be described in words. When he is not playing, his presence is sorely missed and in theory it would be great having him play for SA in the 2015 WC to be held in Australia and New Zealand. However, do we know he will still be great, or worth his place, then? His choosing to not play in a few ODI series the last couple of seasons has probably been good for prolonging his career but has this been what's best for the team? It is hard to say. Certainly a better and refreshed Kallis is good now, but then we were weaker in the games without him.

I think that I tend to over-analyse situations, but here I go. Kallis wants to prolong his career so he can play in 2015. But we don't know if he will still be good then. Domingo has said that no one is guaranteed a place in the WC, it all depends on fitness and form. Domingo has also said that Kallis must play enough ODI cricket if he wants to play in the WC. This sounds wise to me.

Although, if Cricket South Africa think that Kallis will still be good enough to play in the WC in 2015, even if he has to miss half of the series before then, I would say let it be. Kallis is a great after all, likely SA's best ever cricketer.

But if Kallis is perceived to be getting worse and less fit to be able to play, of which there is no shame as it happens to everyone over time, CSA should make the hard decision and put in place a succession plan for him before 2015. I am not saying that Kallis must retire today, but if CSA thinks he will not be able to compete effectively at 2015, they must start looking for a replacement(s) in the ODIs from this season. In test matches a Kallis replacement should be a batsman and in the ODIs, with Duminy back, we probably would also only need to swap him with a batsman.

Kallis says,  "It remains my aspiration to be available for the 2015 World Cup but, at the same time I know as an allrounder approaching my 38th birthday, I will need to assess my future in the game season by season." 

I think CSA need to monitor Kallis closely in this upcoming cricket season (and by the way let's hope that this scrutinising does not add detrimental pressure to Kallis), and make a decision that will be best for the team.

Cricket legends are given too much agency about when they* would like to retire. This can sometimes hurt them as well as the teams they are in. Your thoughts?

Kallis's cricket averages (Taken from http://www.espncricinfo.com on 23 August 2013) 

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	162	274	40	13128	224	56.10	28486	46.08	44	58	1469	97	194	0
ODIs	321	307	53	11498	139	45.26	15756	72.97	17	85	903	136	125	0
T20Is	25	23	4	666	73	35.05	558	119.35	0	5	56	20	7	0
First-class	253	415	57	19534	224	54.56			61	97			258	0
List A	417	399	65	14764	155*	44.20			23	108			156	0
Twenty20	134	130	21	3517	89*	32.26	3153	111.54	0	26	349	73	42	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	162	267	19842	9341	288	6/54	9/92	32.43	2.82	68.8	7	5	0
ODIs	321	280	10636	8558	270	5/30	5/30	31.69	4.82	39.3	2	2	0
T20Is	25	19	276	333	12	4/15	4/15	27.75	7.23	23.0	1	0	0
First-class	253		28643	13338	423	6/54		31.53	2.79	67.7		8	0
List A	417		13559	10650	348	5/30	5/30	30.60	4.71	38.9	3	3	0
Twenty20	134	115	2138	2742	87	4/15	4/15	31.51	7.69	24.5	1	0	0