Jacques Kallis can break a few records of Sachin Tendulkar in the India-South Africa series

Jacques Kallis

Well, before the upcoming India-South Africa series, a bit of good news will definitely boost the morale of the young and vibrant Team India. The news is that opener Shikhar Dhawan now stands at number 9 in the ICC batsmen’s ranking for ODIs. Incidentally, Virat Kohli is standing at number 1 position, while Dhoni follows at number 7.

MS Dhoni has opined that the Indian batsmen have got good experience of ODIs, therefore their self confidence will definitely be increased by playing in ODIs before the Test matches.

There is another important news running in the media that South Africa’s all rounder Jacques Kallis may equal at least three records held by Sachin Tendulkar in this series. These are (in Tests between India and South Africa) – most runs, most centuries and most innings with more than 50 runs.

Recently, Sachin Tendulkar, after playing his 200th Test match, took a final bow at the age of 40, and he was given a unique send-off by the whole country. Jacques Kallis, who is 38 years of age and has played 164 Tests, is still playing for South Africa as a very important member. It is possible that Jacques Kallis would be able to equal some records of Sachin Tendulkar in the upcoming series, which will be played on his home grounds.

In the Test matches played among these two countries, the following are the records likely to be broken:

• In 25 matches, Sachin Tendulkar had scored 1741 runs, whereas Kallis has already made 1585 runs in 16 matches. He needs just 157 more runs to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record
• Sachin Tendulkar had made 7 centuries in matches between the two nations and Kallis has already made 6 centuries
• Sachin Tendulkar had played innings of 50 runs or more 12 times in the matches among the two nations, while Kallis has played 11 innings of 50 or more runs
• Overall, Sachin had scored a total of 15921 runs in Tests and Kallis has scored a total of 13140 runs in Test matches till date
• Tendulkar holds the record of 51 Test centuries and 68 half centuries, while Kallis has scored 44 centuries and 58 half centuries in Test matches
• Also, on a different note, Kallis might beat another record, of hitting 100 sixes (at present held by Adam Gilchrist of Australia) in the upcoming series, as he has already struck 97 sixes

On the whole, it will be nice to see another capable batsman equalling a few records of Sachin Tendulkar, but in my view it will always be impossible for any cricketer to even come at par with the great Sachin Tendulkar. The way I see it, no one can even think of beating the the legacy of Sachin Tendulkar, as he is the greatest cricketer of all time.