Over the years, fans of the game are extremely fascinated to discuss about one subject that has captured the imagination from the time the game started. Who is the greatest cricketer? This is a question that leads to a lot of heated debate among the masses. This question polarises opinion among the various sections of the society. It assumes nationalistic flavour when fans from different countries participate and at the same time, this is a nice topic to spend some time on. When discussing about the greatest cricketer, knowledge about the player’s statistics assumes a lot of importance.
Apart from statistics, his contribution towards victory or a hard fought draw will also have to be taken into account. It could be with the bat, with the ball or on the field. I am too young to discuss about the greatest cricketer ever so I will stick to the last 30 years. For me, there is only one cricketer who can be called as the greatest cricketer over the last 30 years and this topic is about one such cricketer. This is a tribute to the greatest cricketer.
Over the last 30 years, there were quite a lot of good to great players. Some of them were exceptional and some of them were good but if at all you have to find that one player who rose above everyone else,
it will be the one and only Jacques Kallis.
A mega void
The void that Kallis has left behind will certainly not be filled. Not just by South Africa but by the entire world. Atleast for the foreseeable future. Kallis was a three in one player. His batting was legendary, bowling was more than adequate and his fielding was amongst the best. Infact, Kallis has taken wickets similar to that of Zaheer Khan and Chaminda Vaas albeit in far more games. However, when you consider that in a team consisting of Donald, Pollock, Ntini and later Steyn, Kallis was the last option that Smith had to rely on. Despite that, to have taken wickets almost as many as some of the main bowlers, that was indeed an incredible achievement. Added to that, he had an unbelievable strike rate of 32. There are lot of teams in which even the strike bowler averages more than 30.
More than 24,000 international runs and over 550 international wickets. This is a mindboggling statistic. Kallis was often compared to the legendary Sir Garfield Sobers. Sobers was an outstanding cricketer but because of the fact I have never seen Sobers play, I will not be comparing him with Kallis. The man had only 2 double hundreds throughout his stellar career. Both came towards the fag end. Against Sri Lanka and India. If a batsman averages over 55 and that too without that many daddy hundreds, he ought to have been ridiculously consistent and consistent he was.
Wasn’t really a flamboyant player
The start to his international career wasn’t anything to write about but in a few years, he started to accumulate the sort of runs that he was destined for. The day Kallis announced his retirement, all the right words were said. Experts spoke about once in a lifetime talent. Eulogies complete with his statistical exploits were printed. Unfortunately, the day before, as Kallis was compiling the last of his majestic 100s, just about 7000 turned up to watch at Durban. It was less than half the capacity. This certainly wasn’t how the greatest cricketer was supposed to march into the sunset. Probably, Kallis never had the limelight fall on him.
His contemporaries were Ponting, Tendulkar, Dravid, Lara, Sangakkara amongst the batsmen and Warne, McGrath, Steyn, Murali and quite a few others amongst the bowlers. Perhaps because he was born and played for a team not known for their glamour also had an effect. In that, Kallis wasn’t as popular as his peers were.
A Lara dazzled with his strokeplay, Tendulkar and Dravid piled on the runs and more importantly, played for the richest country in cricketing terms. Ponting played for arguably the greatest team of his era, Warne, McGrath, Akram, Waqar were terrorising batsmen into submission whereas Kallis was away playing an innings right from the coaching manual. This was an era when the game was undergoing a shift with Australia leading the way. Batsmen were more aggressive and bowlers were more menacing. Whereas Kallis preferred to quietly accumulate the mountain of runs that he eventually did. Kallis prospered through attrition.
Patience personified
His boundless patience was his main strength. It will be impossible to find a Kallis innings, even in limited overs, that was scored at a strike rate of more than 100. It was probably Kallis’s introspective approach that didn’t endear him to the masses. Nevertheless, his value and his contribution towards the team’s success was rated highly by his South African team members.
Tribute by his former team members
Some of the words his former team members spoke after his retirement speaks volumes about Kallis’s versatility.
“Although we all knew the retirement of a great player like Jacques Kallis was going to happen, his decision still comes as a blow when the reality dawns,” Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.
Batsman Faf du Plessis wrote: “What an honour sharing a changeroom with the greatest cricketer of all time.”
“Jacques’ calmness, maturity and presence in the change room will sorely be missed and hopefully he will still be able to play a role in this team’s success in the near future,” Domingo said.
Dale Steyn said, “What a playa!!! Great way to retire, 100, win the series, number 1 Test team!
Hashim Amla, said: “Jacques was a one in 50 years cricketer who had a huge influence on so many Proteas players over a 20-year period. I was privileged to have been one of those.”
Kallis had been part of many match winning contributions and he has often taken wickets at vital moments. Yet, it almost feels like he never belonged to the elite class of his era. Only Tendulkar has more hundreds than him. He finished his career with a batting average that is higher than Tendulkar, Ponting, Dravid and Lara. All of them were rated higher than Kallis. Kumar Sangakkara, despite making his debut 6 years later than Kallis was the only peer who managed to finish with a batting average higher than Kallis. Amongst the allrounders, Kallis never had a match in his career. His numbers speaks for itself.
Chance meeting
I had the good fortune of seeing Kallis standing next to me. This was in Sri Lanka. I had been there on an official visit. South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were there for a tri-nation tournament. All the teams were in Sheraton whereas I was in a flat quite adjacent to Sheraton. It was a stone’s throw away. Now that I know that the players are all staying in Sheraton, they will have to return to the hotel at the end of the day’s play. Hence, I went to the lobby and waited. Just then, I saw the South African bus arrive. Immediately, I ran to the entrance and I saw all the players come out of the bus.
To my amazement, Kallis and Pollock, instead of walking towards their room, stood in the entrance and were talking. I took this opportunity and went and stood right next to my favourite player. He was easily a foot taller than I. In the days of mobile phone free world, a selfie was out of the question. I didn’t want to ask for autograph either. Just to be in the presence of my favourite player was enough for me.
Other articles about South African cricket
to be continued….