Jacques Kallis' Birthday: Celebrating influence of family and Bob Woolmer on his cricket legacy

2. Unwavering support of sister Janine

Kallis lost his mother early which meant that sister Janine was one special person who had to not only care for her brother like a mother but also became his constant source of motivation during challenging days. Janine used to attend nearly all the matches Jacques Kallis played. In fact, during his Under-15 cricket days, he was not selected and it got the legendary South African quite upset and frustrated, both at the same time. It was at that point, that Janine came forward and instilled a mindset of never backing down and showing his true calibre on the field.

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Another factor which counts here is that being the sister of a rising cricket star, people often judged and had high expectations of Janine. Hence, it was tough for her to back Kallis when he did not perform well. Fascinatingly, not many fans know that even after Kallis became a legend, she ensured to remain by the side of Kallis in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well. In the IPL 2009, Janine was a cheerleader of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team.