Kallis' genius is empirical
Batting or bowling, Jacques Kallis has the numbers to prove that he's one of the all time greats, even if does not always gives the impression that he belongs in that pantheon, says the Old Batsman in his blog .
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
Batting or bowling, Jacques Kallis has the numbers to prove that he's one of the all time greats, even if does not always gives the impression that he belongs in that pantheon, says the Old Batsman in his blog.
As an all-rounder, he has a batting average that dwarfs Flintoff's, along with 46 more wickets at the same price. Hadlee, Botham, Imran and Kapil have outbowled him, but Kallis has 10 more hundreds than all of them put together. And Sobers? Well Sobers can match that average, but nothing else. Kallis has sustained it for another 4,000 runs, has scored 14 more centuries and has 35 more wickets at cheaper cost.
So what is it about Jacques that leaves him so ill-considered by the wider world? Botham, Imran and Kapil lifted their countries, raised them up ... Kallis has been less overtly heroic. The South African methods of winning have been to grind relentlessly from a position of advantage. Kallis is not a victory from the jaws of defeat merchant; the greatest deeds of Botham, Imran and Kapil had a context that Kallis's often don't.
Nikita Bastian is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo