6 Most selfless acts in cricket

5. AB de Villiers sacrificed his wicket for Jacques Kallis in his final Test innings:

The final Test of the India-South Africa series in 2013 was a much awaited one. Firstly, it was the series decider after a cliffhanger of a first Test where South Africa almost chased down a record total and secondly it was going to be the last Test of the greatest all-rounder of the modern era – Jacques Henry Kallis.

With the intent Kallis was batting, it was clear that he wanted to end on a high by playing another one of his special knocks before bidding a final adieu to the game. He was extremely cautious and batted in his bubble respecting the good deliveries and patiently waiting to score off the bad ones. The only occasion where he seemed vulnerable was when he came running down to AB de Villiers at the striker’s end misjudging a run. De Villiers was safe at his end but looking at Kallis in danger, he ran putting his own wicket under scrutiny to prevent Kallis from getting run out in his final Test innings.

His act of putting his wicket in danger paid off as first, AB de Villiers survived the close run-out call and later, Jacques Kallis ended up scoring a match winning century in his final Test innings and also inched past Rahul Dravid as the 3rd highest run-scorer in the history of Test cricket.

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