16 Interesting facts about Jacques Kallis – The greatest all rounder

16 Interesting facts about Jacques Kallis – The greatest all rounder: The greatest all-rounders in modern day cricket, Jacques Kallis is a dream player for any team. Being a sturdy middle order batsman of the caliber of all time greats, he was more than just a part time bowler. Being the 5^th and sometimes 4^th bowler for his team, Kallis has more than a few memorable performances with the ball too.

Having played his last match in 2014, it has been over a year since the South African team has been devoid of his services. Though they have managed to cope up without his presence, he was a core member of the all-conquering team under Graeme Smith.

1. Birth:

Kallis was born at Pinelands, Cape Town on 16^th October 1975.

2. First exposure to cricket:

Kallis had done his schooling at Wynberg Boys’ High school, and it is there wherein he got his first exposure in cricket. In 2009, the school named it’s ground after the batsman.

3. Debut and unimpressive start of career:

He made his Test debut against England in 1995. Jacques Kallis had an unimpressive debut, having scored just 1 run. He made his ODI debut against England, but couldn’t make any subsequent impact in his initial ODIs, nor in South Africa’s campaign in the 1996 World Cup. His first major breakthrough for the national team came in a match saving Test knock against Australia in Melbourne, in 1997.

4. Rise to fame as an all-rounder:

Post his breakthrough, it was a never-look-back moment for Kallis. He was the player of the tournament for South Africa’s title winning campaign in the 1998 ICC Champion’s Trophy. Also, his batting played a crucial role in South Africa’s campaign to the semi-finals in the 1999 World Cup, following it with a series winning performance against India in 2000. Subsequently, he rose to the top of the ICC all rounder’s rankings in 2001.

5. Purple patch post 2002:

While Kallis had established himself as a worthy all-rounder post 2002, it was post the 2003 season wherein Kallis really showed his true caliber as a batsman. Having cemented his place as a No. 3 batsman, he became the 1st batsman after Sir Don Bradman to score 5 Test centuries in 5 consecutive Tests. Also, in 2004, he created the record for fastest ever Test half-century, coming off just 24 balls (record now held by Misbah-ul-Haq who scored 50 in 21 balls).

6. Breaking records:

While just a few years ago, he managed to become just the 8^th player to complete the double of 3000 runs and 100 wickets, it was 4 years later, being aged just under 30, wherein he became the leading run scorer for South Africa in Tests. The previous record was held by Gary Kirsten, who had 7289 runs.

7. Award winning year:

2005 was the year wherein Kallis established himself as one of the best in the era. Having scored 1288 runs in a single year alone, he was named as the Test Player of the Year and joint Player of the Year by ICC, being the second recipient of the award post it’s inception in 2004.

8. Century man:

Kallis crossed the 100 Test milestone at the centurion ground, against New Zealand. But what makes the incident more memorable is that he shared the milestone with two other former players, Stephen Fleming and Shaun Pollock, who were great players of their own right.

9. The legendary double:

In 2006, Kallis raced past Sir Gary Sober’s record of 8032 runs, and became just the second player since the legend himself to have achieved the double of 8000 Test runs and 200 Test wickets.

10. Dream year, part 2:

2007 was another year wherein Kallis scored heavily. He was South Africa’s highest run scorer in the 2007 world cup with 485 runs, and also had a dream series against Pakistan in Pakistan, having scored 3 centuries in a 2-Test match series. In the process, he became just the 4th batsman to have scored 4 centuries in 4 Tests, twice in his career.

11. Twin landmark:

Amongst the players who have scored 10,000 runs in both the formats, Kallis might have been the only player to have scored it within such a short span. In an away ODI series against Australia in 2009, Kallis completed the 10000 landmark in Sydney, and crossed the landmark in Tests in Australia’s return series, at the Wanderers.

12. 150 on 150^th :

In his 150^th Test, Kallis became the first ever batsman to score a 150. He went on to score 224 against India, which was his second and last double century in Tests, which is also his highest Test score.

13. Bests in England and Australia :

Despite being at a ripe age, Kallis scored his best ever scores in England and Australia in 2012. He scored 182 against England at The Oval, while later in the year, scored 147 against the Australia at the Gabba, his highest scores in the respective countries.

14. Bid to make it to ODI team for World Cup:

Kallis, post 2012, did not play 28 successive ODIs, citing the reason of giving the youngsters more chances and he himself having a decrease in workload. But to make it to the 2015 World Cup team, which was a trophy which he yearned for in his entire career, he made a comeback back into the ODI team in November, 2013 albeit being a modest one.

15. Slump in form and retirement:

Despite being the only batsman who had a sniff of a chance to overcome Sachin Tendulkar’s records in Tests, Kallis retired in 2013 series against India, post having a severe slump of form. He scored just 194 runs in his 7 Tests in 2013, his worst year ever. Though he continued to play in the ODIs till late June, he never really returned to the format, and announced his retirement from all the forms of cricket in 2014.

16. Major stats:

Jacques Kallis has stats which is comparable to greatest of the batsmen, and the bests of the bowlers. In Tests, he had scored 13,289 runs (a single run more than Rahul Dravid) at an average of 55.37, and took 292 wickets with a bowling average of 32.65. In 325 ODIs, he gathered 11,574 runs and had an average of 45.13 and took 273 wickets with a competitive bowling average of 31. He had a best of 6-54 in Tests, one of his 5, 5-wicket hauls, against England, which single handedly won the match for South Africa, way back in 2003. He also holds the unique record of being the only player to have scored 10,000+ runs and to have taken 200 wickets in ODIs and Tests.