The always unheralded Jacques Kallis

Jacques Kallis of South Africa celebrates his century during day 2 of the 3rd Test match between South Africa and India at Newlands Stadium on January 03, 2011

As I was browsing through SportKeeda’s “Greatest Cricketers of all time” series which concluded just recently, there was a prominent name missing. Jacques Henry Kallis, one of the greatest cricketers of all times, was missing from the list! I was little surprised seeing his exclusion. But nevertheless, he has always been somewhat ignored, both by fans outside South Africa and critics alike.

Kallis made his debut for South Africa in 1995 against England. Though he struggled a bit in the beginning, from 1998 onwards, there was no looking backwards for him. He was an orthodox right-hand batsman, with a technique more adapted to test cricket. Still he managed to hold the record for the fastest 50 in test cricket, taking only 24 balls to reach it, which clearly shows that he is no defensive batsman. Also, his performance in ODIs has on par with his performance in test cricket,with more than 11,000 runs to his credit with an excellent average of about 45.

He’s no muck with the ball either. With 270 and 280 wickets in ODIs and tests respectively, his bowling records can be easily compared with the records of any leading bowler. Though some have regarded him as “a 5^th bowler who gets wickets by luck”, getting 550 international wickets is in no way luck. He regularly bowls for his team (even bowled in the on-going T20 world cup) and has regularly provided crucial breakthroughs whenever his team needed it.

It’s no wonder that his records and consistency have led to his comparisons with greatest all-rounders of all time like Sir Gary Sobers, Sir Ian Botham and Kapil Dev. But statistically, he should be considered as one of the best all-rounders ever. Also,unlike most all-rounders, who are mainly bowlers who can bat, he is one of the few exceptions wherein he is a middle order batsman who can bowl medium pace. Even at the age of 37, he has been consistent at his performance and is still one of the best all rounders around.

Now looking his batting records, he has the second highest number of test centuries, only behind Sachin Tendulkar himself and he is the 4^th highest run getter of all times, behind Sachin, Ponting and Dravid. But still,when it comes to best batsman of all times, comparisons are made only between Ponting, Sachin, Lara and of course Sir Don Bradman. Most of the times,the name Kallis is neglected. Yes, he may not have Lara’s style, Sachin’s straight drives or Ponting’s pull shots, but neither of them have been as been as consistent as him. He has an astonishing test average of 57 and ODI average of 45, that too after playing 150 tests and above 300 ODIs .Though he may not be the best batsman, but according to me, he is one of the best cricketer of all times and must be given due credit to his achievements by cricketing fans around the world.