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Kyle Abbott, Goodbye!!!!

Our Cricket World is never too far away from a sad incident. Kyle Abbott, a hardworking, honest fast bowler who always likes to wear his emotions on sleeves, has opted for a KOLPAK deal with Hampshire. A 100,000 British Pounds earning deal each year for three years including insurance and he left his beloved country, South Africa, for playing in English County Set-up. A White man doesn't get too many opportunities to play for South Africa in current set-up. Some couple of years ago, this wasn't the case but racial tensions have always been an undercurrent phenomenon of SA Cricket. Apartheid happened for a reason. Nelson Mandela fought for a reason and that reason was giving the majority population of South Africa which is predominantly black and mostly colored, a fair (and some might say, better) chance of representing their country on global stage, proudly. Cricket and Rugby have always been recognized as two spectator sports in which South Africans are outstanding. And that's why these two were first targeted for implementation of transformation quotas. That if you are going to place a Protea Team of 11 players and Springboks of 15 players in field, they got to be comprised of a certain number of black and colored players. Now you could say that what if these black and colored players aren't as good as white players playing the same sport? Well, South African Ministry of Sports isn't concerned with this question and to hell with the team's performance. Transformation quotas are the real things and if they aren't complied with seriously, you will get punished and that's exactly what happened with South African Cricket Board. CSA cannot stage a global ICC tournament in South Africa because it missed these transformation targets in 2015......What a shame!!!

But something else also happened in 2015 and that concerned our primary subject of this article, i.e. Abbott very much. Kyle Abbott helped South Africa win their first knock-out match in an ICC World Cup when he dismantled the top batting order of Sri Lanka. Protea won the match convincingly by 7 wickets without any hiccups and if you have known history of SA Cricket even a little bit, you would know they are called 'chokers' in World Cups for a reason. Now having put one of the defining performances of the tournament, Abbott must have felt a confirmed spot on team sheet of 11 for semifinal clash against New Zealand. But, a semi-fit, half-injured Vernon Philander was brought in to play in semifinal so that transformation targets were met soundly. As we all know now, SA lost the match and everyone, be it Steyn, De Villiers or Morkel were in tears. That decision cost South Africa a dream chance to lift the World Cup for the first time but no one objected to the controversial choice of picking Vernon in place of a performing Abbott. South African media went into a frenzy covering this flawed practice of Quotas but when it was confirmed as a national policy for all the sports, they had to keep quiet.

Kyle Abbott invested 7 years of his prime youth in domestic cricket, took loads of wickets and selectors took note of his sterling performances. Always being treated as the 'next-big-thing' without ever given a chance to showcase his skills on international scene, he slowly and slowly grew detached from South African Cricket Set-up. But then he got a call in 2012 from selectors as they wanted to replace an injured Jacques Kallis against Pakistan. He made a dreamy debut and ripped Pakistan apart with a brutal fast bowling display of 7/30. Now his credentials were confirmed but Kallis returned next match and selectors couldn't find a place for him in 11s in next series. Or for that matter,next 11 months. Then he played again and performed. Again an established player returned and he got sidelines for 9 months. He was again called by selectors and took another five-wicket haul but this again proved temporary. Dropped again. This time for 8 months. And the time we are having right now is the time Kyle Abbott finally found himself fully enjoying his cricket with a belief that he belonged now. But let me tell you the backstory of this grand occasion. Both Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel; two long-time, premier, frontline SA fast bowlers are currently injured and as soon as they would have returned, Abbott (Who else?) would have to most certainly left his place. He proved himself in SA, Australia and even in India, generally considered a graveyard for fast bowlers and still, he was going to get a rough deal from selectors in time to come. And that's exactly why, he decided to leave his beloved country of birth to play his cricket elsewhere. South African Economy is stagnating, it's currency Rand swiftly declining and you are not even sure of your place in the team after putting one brilliant performance after another whenever given a chance. Kyle had to give in to the demands of his body (he is 29 now) and financial situation of country but whosoever has seen Kyle Abbott playing on a cricket field would conform to the opinion that no one in current South African team plays this sport as passionately as he does and it wasn't the money that influenced his decision but the South African Cricket System that betrayed him. He just broke down in tears, an hour ago, attending his final press conference as a South African international while announcing his Kolpak deal with Hampshire

Goodbye Kyle, you were as good an international cricketer as any your country of birth has ever produced!!!!!

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