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Jacques Kallis - Most Underrated Allrounder

Sanz

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
Kallis is the only Cricketer to score 8000+ runs and take 200+ wickets in both Tests and ODIs, yet when it comes to allrounders, he doesn't get any mention now a days.

His Stats -

Batting - 55.78 (TEST), 43.61(ODI)
Bowling - 31.71(TEST), 31.89(ODI)

Not to forget, very soon he will be reaching 100 catches milestone in both Tests and ODIs and he is only 30.
 
benchmark00

benchmark00

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Agreed 100%. Always said he was the most underrated player of our generation, and personally one of my favourite cricketers of all time.
 
Sanz

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
Pedro Delgado said:
Is he underrated? Super player.

He should be bowled more he's good at it.
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As an allrounder, he is. Afridi, Razzaq, Pathan, Bravo, Oram etc are considered allrounders now a days and Kallis is simply considered as a world class batsman despite being a better bowler than each one of them at the moment (except Freddie ofcourse).
 
Slifer

Slifer

International Captain
Yeah I could never get my brain around this one either. I wouldnt necessarily put JK in my all time world 11 but he is certainly iMHO the 2nd best all rounder for the last 20 years (along with the GREAT Imran). The only problem i have with him is his reluctance to bowl these days which i think is more a reflection of him wanting to concentrate more on his batting, which i fair enough. He will certainly be a great in my mind even if he were to retire right now.
 
open365

open365

International Vice-Captain
I think we overlook Kallis because

A)We see him as a reluctant bowler

B)He is a world class batsman in his own right

C)He doesn't seem to have the most endearing personality, often accused of beeing selfish and reluctant to bowl, he doesn't have the charisma That Imran did or Freddy does and he doesn't seem to capture the imagination of cricket fans like the truly great all rounders do.

When you think of Freddy(or me at least) I think of his magnificent hitting and his over at Edgbaston where he dismissed Langer and Ponting, and i see a great person who'll allways be just another Lancashire lad.

EDIT: He must suffer in the bowling department from being such a good batsman, he has to bat 4 in test matches and with his low strike rate and high average, he spends a long long time at the crease. Fred commented in his autobiography that he asked Fletcher could he bat higher in an ODI match so Fletch said he could go 4, but after bowling first, he had to decline because he needed the extra time to rest and prepare himself. He said he has tremendous respect for Kallis because he thinks it's hard being an all rounder.
When i think of Kallis(rightly or wrongly) what i see is his dour demeanour, his conservative but impressive batting and...well...not much on the bowling front.
 
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BoyBrumby

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Great player; can't stand him myself tho.

I can never quite shake off the impression that he'd sell his grandmother to slave traders for a nice not out & most of his bowling of late has been against the average-enhancing end of the international spectrum too.
 
steds

steds

Hall of Fame Member
Sanz said:
yet when it comes to allrounders, he doesn't get any mention now a days.
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Perhaps that's because his last 30 Tests, discounting Zimbabwe, have yielded a less than earth shattering 38 wickets at just under 50. Underrated - probably. Allrounder - not these days.
 
Sanz

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
steds said:
Perhaps that's because his last 30 Tests, discounting Zimbabwe, have yielded a less than earth shattering 38 wickets at just under 50. Underrated - probably. Allrounder - not these days.
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Kallis' career is not limit to 30 tests, he has played over 100 tests and overall his bowling figures are comparable to Freddie and batting figures comparable to Dravid. Imran Khan, who is considered as the greatest allrounder by many on this forum, became a much better batsman only after he handed over his bowling responsibilities to Akram. Imran was hardly a bowler and batsman both in a single test series, yet he is considered (arguably) the second best allrounder after sir Gary.
 
Mr Mxyzptlk

Mr Mxyzptlk

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The reason Kallis doesn't get much mention is because he's no longer an allrounder. He's now a batsman who bowls a bit, and generally not very well. Kallis only seems to care to bowl against teams he knows he'll take wickets - Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

The difference with Andrew Flintoff is that Flintoff is a far better bowler than Kallis ever was and certainly much better than he is now. Flintoff may not be the batsman Kallis is, but he's certainly the only allrounder of the two at the moment.
 
GIMH

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
That's not an attack of Kallis by the way, I know that's how it comes across. merely an observation.
 
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