Team should be picked by selectors alone - Kallis

Jacques Kallis has admitted that the recent controversies over the selection of the South African squad has been "frustrating" and hopes that the task of choosing the side is left solely to the selectors in the future.

Kallis' statements come in the wake of Charl Langeveldt pulling out of the Indian tour, reportedly because he was chosen for quota reasons. He replaced Andre Nel, who also expressed his disappointment over the non-selection.

"The selection issue has been frustrating over the last year," Kallis said ahead of the series against India. "The most frustrating part is that people who shouldn't be getting involved get involved. If it stayed with the selectors people will be happy - we all know what the policies are. That's what the guys are frustrated about."

Kallis was echoing the views of Tony Irish, the chief executive of the South Africa Cricket Association (SACA).

Graeme Smith, however, felt his side would overcome selection controversies and put up a brave fight in the series, starting in Chennai on March 26. "It is a bit disappointing," he said. "We feel for the players and have spoken to them. It affects the team certainly. But we are mature enough and our job is to continue with the game."

Gerald Majola, the chief executive of Cricket South Africa, had said the board should be careful while trying to adhere to the transformation policy. "It's about targets, we aspire to reach certain targets. But we also believe we need to be reasonable and look at what we have. It must be very frustrating for the players when things like 400 partnerships are overshadowed by players withdrawing from teams because of other issues. That's not where we want to be."