Jacques Kallis – The Unspoken Hero

If you want to get a rough sense of Jacques Kallis's quite astonishing Test achievements, imagine Ricky Ponting, with not just all his runs but also Jason Gillespie's wickets, that’s Jacques Kallis for you.

Kallis, with 12,367 runs and 274 wickets, is undoubtedly the best all rounder from so many years and is a wonder of the modern age. Kallis has already done enough to be considered among the greatest batsmen of all time. When batting, the gravity of technique holds Kallis's creative spirits in place. He's an attractive, classically correct player, who for long batted in denial because of the demands of the team . The age actually seems no barrier to his performance that’s why even  at the age of 36 he is continuously performing for his team in all three departments and all three formats of the game. Ask for one day , test or IPL is has proven himself in all formats and is always considered vital element of the team.  

Its his second inning of career which is more sparkling than the first one as between 2004 and 2012, he has passed 1000 runs in a calendar year four times and made 30 hundreds including the double hundred (between 1995 and 2003, he had crossed 1000 runs a year only once and scored 13 hundreds) and the recent 43th test century against England says it all about his form .

Kallis is a rarity among all-rounders , a top-class, top-order batsman, who, when his mind and body are into it, can hit the 90 mph mark, a speed only the fastest of bowlers breach and is a  splendid, beautifully balanced catcher, primarily in the slips but this man has never received much publicity for his cricket. He is the kind of player which every captain wants to have in his team. If you jot down the names of all the so called all rounders in international cricket than probably he is only one who fits in all parameters. Over 20,000 runs in both formats and more than 500 wickets and 300 plus catches he defines versatility .He has achieved everything which many cricketers dream of achieving .

With time he may have achieved new hair head but he is still a reassuringly old-school . I hope a time will come when he will be considered as an idle standard of what should be called as an all rounder ,that would be a perfect tribute to this great player.