Jack Kallis turns 41 on October 16. His contributions to making Cricket a richer sport by virtue of all-round contributions speaks of his great legacy as a seasoned campaigner. Kallis was akin to an experienced warlord, downsizing opponents with his lethal blade and his grit and determination, his customary mode of operation for South Africa. In an era that thrives on T20, cushioned by the need for instant gratification, we examine why Kallis still matters in the World Cricket, despite retiring 3 years ago.
Kallis is a distinguished luminary of the gentleman's game. Across many and frequently occurring blemishes that have tarnished the game, it were stalwarts like Jack Kallis that protected the integrity of Cricket and bowed out with the same dignity and polish with which he contested at the highest level of the game.
While many regard it as a batsman's game, Cricket has unfurled amazing and titanic contests between the blaze of the willow and the shine of the cherry, making giants like Tendulkar square against Warne, Lara against McGrath and Dravid against Shoaib.
But away from the humdrum of needless and often excitable battles, Jack Kallis continued to focus silently on his task, i.e., towards the upkeep of the sport in his South Africa. His nearly 25000 international runs are a testimony to his single-minded and thorough determination to his task. Something at which he excelled commendably.
It wasn't that Kallis just inspired his teammates of the class of Alan Donald and Graeme Smith, he earned huge praise even from his starry contemporaries, legends like Tendulkar, Dravid, Ponting and Lara.
While Sachin is known to have publicly hailed Kallis as one of the most important and dominating adversaries, he played against, Lara, no mean achiever with the bat himself hailed Kallis' dependable skills, stating he would bet his life on Kallis to bat all day.
Magnificently defiant and appealing with the bat and equally tough to dislodge with the ball, that was Jack Henry Kallis for you. He was a modern day master who dug deep wells of concentration and bunked in big on the 22 yards to amaze adversaries with astonishing levels of focus.
As one of cricket's widely respected greats, Kallis's amazing tally of 13289 test runs, 45 centuries at an average of 55 is considerably better than modern masters like Lara, Sachin and even Ponting. Similarly, his stack of 292 test scalps and 273 one day victims rates him second to none as a bowling all rounder who ripped apart best opponents with mercurial force.
An interesting part of Kallis' impact in the game was his definitive body language that hurried his opponents, often into submission or into a state of mental capituation. Once set on the pitch, he was a bull hard to remove.
Those bulging biceps, broad frame and a physique ideal for model-photoshoots, Kallis had great hunger to succeed at the game and virtuosity with which he propelled his international career to great heights. Even in low form, in his sunset years, his phenomenal fitness ensured he would go down with a fighting 115 against India.
With those amazing 11579 one day international runs, bludgeoned by 17 attractive centuries and a magnificent tally of 86 fifties, puts Kallis well ahead of legends like Lara, Dravid and even Gilchrist.
Moreover, Kallis didn't just grind the opposition to dust with the meat of his willow, as a consistent medium pacer, he was renowned to hit the deck hard and make the ball often seam both ways, thus garnering a fantastic 273 ODI wickets. Truly great!
Kallis, from his nearly 2 decades of an international career, bagged an astonishing 331 catches.
Always the reliable marksman in the first or second slip, he was incredibly agile as a fielder who strengthened South Africa's fielding unit in international cricket. Never in a hurry to stutter under pressure situations, his intelligent cricket-thinking brain allowed him to loom large in critical situations.
With legends like Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid and Michael Hussey have already gone from Cricket, Kallis' recent retirement puts the last of the most technically correct test batsmen away from the grind of 22 yards.
While it brings massive relief to his adversaries, it teases the cricket fan with a tinge of nostalgia that through giants like Jack Kallis, we saw masterful exponents who valued the dignity and cherished the essence of Test Cricket, the most pivotal examination for a thorough international contestant. He played selflessly and always for South Africa's betterment, knowing well that he was within striking reach of breaking Tendulkar's test tally of centuries, he stayed back happily with 45 tons.
The humble Cape Town born was an instant hit in the dressing room, a temple of valuable lessons and brimming force for forging teammate spirit in South Africa. It was a place where Kallis was the central force amidst teammates that changed over the years from Cronje, Rhodes and Donald to Smith, De Villiers and his best mate, Boucher.
But Kallis, who debuted in 1995 and walked into the sunset in 2013, playing high quality cricket for 18 long years should also be regarded for his longevity in the game where mediocrity often shunts talents.
While glancing past many of Kallis' mercurial and hard fought achievements, it may just strike you that he didn't have a nickname or a moniker like Tendulkar's 'Master Blaster' or Lara's 'The Prince'. This is astonishing despite Kallis reigning supreme over so many of world class opponents like Ambrose, Murali, Warne, Kumble and Srinath.
The reason could be simple: the man hated histrionics and couldn't care any less for all the fashion and jovial verbatim we come to associate with the game. Kallis operated like a soldier and a venerable Field Marshal, solidifying South Africa's reign in the world cricket, doing what he did best- focusing hard and playing the game in utmost competitive spirit. Hence, there was little regard for fancy hoopla.
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