Jacques Kallis, born October 16, 1975, is recognised as the greatest all-rounder of the generation while as well as being one of the finest batsmen. Kaushik Narayan looks back at some of his greatest Test innings.
101 vs Australia, Boxing day test, 1997
It was his only his 7th test match, and he was up against the likes of Glen Mcgrath and Shane Warne. He came in when his side was in trouble, and played some marvelous off-drives to announce his arrival. He showed great temperament and technique, and scored a match-saving 100. This innings highlighted the talent and character of Jacques Kallis. He regards this innings as his best ever, but then, it was only a sign of things to come.
5 Consecutive Tons
West Indies were touring South Africa(2002-03), and Jacques Kallis was all set to face their not-so-threatening bowling attack. One after the other, Kallis scored 4 consecutive hundreds (158, 177, 130*, 130*), in the series. Kallis was in a great touch, and like a great player, he made the most of his good form.He was on a mission– a mission to score tons.
Kallis continued his good form in the next series against New Zealand, and scored his 5th consecutive century. Only 5 batsmen have scored 5 consecutive tons, and Jacques Kallis is one of them.
155 and 100* vs Pakistan, National Stadium, Karachi
Jacques Kallis was up against the lethal fast bowling attack of Pakistan, and, as always, he was ready to accept the challenge.
Kallis made 155 with 19 boundaries, propelling his side to a healthy 450 in the first innings, on a slow, dry wicket. It was also Kallis’ 25th test ton. In the second innings, on an even more crumbling wicket, Kallis scored a match winning hundred (100*).
Before this series, Kallis received a lot of criticism for his low strike rate, and he even dropped from the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup. To all this, Kallis’ response was to score heavily, as he scored 155 and 100*, in a match that South Africa won by 160 runs.
201*, 161, 109*-vs India
It was time for Kallis to get that *200* monkey off his back. His first-ever double century came against India, and that too, in a winning cause. It would be just fair to say that it was one of the awaited knocks, in the game of cricket. Kallis showed a lot of emotions after reaching his first-ever double hundred, and it was a
Kallis’ yet another twin-centuries came in the third test of the same series. It was Kallis at his very best. He scored 161 and 109*, and for his brilliant performance, he was given the man of the match. Also, for his three centuries, he was given the man of the series award, too.
224 vs Sri Lanka, Cape town
Kallis, was once again in love with Cape Town. It was time for his second double century, and it came against Sri Lanka., who were having a torrid time in the rainbow nation. This was again, a match winning effort from Kallis, as South Africa went on to win the match by 10 wickets. It was a knock in which he was looking at utmost ease, right from the first ball. Like many other occasions in his long career, he made batting look ridiculously easy.
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Now that Kallis is playing his last Test match, it will be interesting to see whether he can add more centuries to his tally of 44. At the time of writing this article, he’s stands 2nd in the list of ‘most number of Test centuries, and 4th in the list of highest run getters (Test cricket).
Jacques Kallis will always be remembered as one of the greatest players to have ever played the game, and, arguably, the greatest all rounder, of all time.
By Kaushik Narayanan
