4 reasons why Jacques Kallis is considered the greatest cricketer of this era
Legendary cricketer Jacques Kallis recently turned 40Jacques Kallis is probably one of the rarest cricketers in the world, who is envied equally by batsmen and bowlers worldwide. Bowlers, for a long time, considered his wicket as a huge prize and as for batsmen, his batting became the only thing for them to worship. Kallis’ batting may have drawn comparisons with another legend Sachin Tendulkar, and his bowling with Aussie quick Glenn McGrath, and so there is no denying that when it came to his all-around abilities, he was right on top.The calm, broad-shouldered cricketer with his presence on the field, intimidated opposition worldwide, yet he was the gentleman par excellence on and off the field. His brave exploits on the cricket field with both bat and ball is something which is talked about with immense respect and admiration among the cricketing fraternity.The rare combination of his rock-solid technique with the bat and his lethal pace bowling, made him the perfect classical sportsman in the quick-paced generation. He earned the status of a legend very early on in his career. Kallis was already the leading all-rounders in cricket, just two years after he made his International debut he had already showed glimpses of his greatness.The legend of Jacques Kallis will live as long as the game of cricket. As the veteran turns 40, we take a look at 4 reasons why he is widely considered to be the greatest of all time.
#1 The greatest all-rounder ever
It is widely said that there won’t be another all-rounder like Jacques Kallis in the world of cricket. Kallis’ brilliance with the bat and the ball was noticed early on in his career. In 166 Tests, the 40-year averaged more than 55 with the bat, ending up with 13289 runs and he stands a proud third on the list of leading run-scorers in Test cricket. He also has 45 Test hundreds to his name, placing him only second on the list of most hundreds by a cricketer, after India’s Sachin Tendulkar.
In ODIs too, his record is equally impressive. In 325 ODI matches, Kallis has managed 11574 runs, which included 17 centuries and a staggering 86 fifties. When it came to his bowling, the numbers still continue to impress fans. He has claimed 292 wickets in Tests and 273 more in ODIs.
He is the only player in cricket history to achieve the mark of 10,000 runs in Tests & ODI each and take more than 200 wickets in the Tests and ODIs each. With such mind-boggling stats, there is little doubt about who the greatest all-rounder of all time is, and his records will stand against history, untouched for a long, long time.