Jack Kallis-A 24-karat All-rounder

South Africa is famous for two great things, one- diamond mines and second- all-rounders' mine. Since their entry in the world cricket in 1991 after being banned for their apartheid status in the 70s, they have produced highest number of all-rounder with a quality of 24 karat diamond. In India, our concept about all-rounder is well known! A bowler who manages to bat is termed as an all-rounder irrespective of his bowling or batting quality! But to be a genuine all-rounder, it requires genuine skill. In this department, South Africa ranks highest. They have produced the likes of Brian Mcmilan, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Hansie Cronje, and the best in the lot classical, versatile, rare talent- Jack Kallis.

The all-rounder species are generally categorized as batting all-rounder and bowling all-rounder. But a player like Jack Kallis would be termed as battling all-rounder; a scarce species and a rare diamond class. The category called battling all-rounder perfectly balances the department of batting and bowling along with the bonus of fielding. Kallis, undoubtedly, can be ranked along with the great legends like Gary Sobers, Ian Botham and Imran Khan. If Sachin was the greatest batsman, say, of the last two decades, Kallis would be, without dispute, termed as the greatest all-rounder of the same era.

Still head, straight bat and ball goes to the fence

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His every shot was a perfect example of batting theory. Still head, bat pad close together, great balance while playing drives, cut, flicks, pull even the defensive shots are exemplary for today's generation.
In the bowling department, too, he was equally impressive like his batting. He had good ability to swing the ball in both ways that too with a considerable pace ranging between 135 to 140 km/hr case. In fact, he would even touch the hot zone of 150 km/hr in his younger days. A captain expects good few overs from his all-rounder with one to two wickets to balance the load of the other bowlers. More or less, Kallis always fulfilled his captains expectation. Adding another versatility, he was a fine slip fielder too.

Eyes on the ball and the balance, immaculate.

 His performance against all teams can be placed in the acceptable quadrant. If we look at his performance against India, the most memorable can be seen as  his 4th innings in the third Test match of 2011 series. India was literally on the verge of victory as S. Africa was reeling at 110 for 7 in the third innings. Jack Kallis, battling with injury, joined M. Morkel and scored a glorious century that not only prevented India's win but also threatened to put India on losing side. That's the sign of a player with enormous ability to change the course of a match which we call as out of the blue.
Right from his debut since1995, he remained integral part of the S. African team, stayed unfazed under any circumstances and gave reliability to his position in the team. Every captain would love to have such versatile player who gives the captain a luxury to balance his side with an extra batsman or a bowler as per the requirement and condition. His batting average of above 50 with nearly 300 wickets in test cricket speak in itself his true caliber and consistency at higher level.
Jack Kallis really was a-24-karat all-rounder of this generation.

Steve Waugh's Mental Disintegration theory.

Hitler's Quote: - Demoralize the enemy from with in by surprise, terror, sabotage, assassination." In the end, victory matters... Steve Waugh was instrumental using this quote for developing his theory- The Mental Disintegration. In the game of cricket, bowlers bowl bouncer, slower deliveries, reverse swing, googly and other available weapons to intimidate the batsman and achieve his wicket. But apart from it, there is an X-factor that enhances the probability of yielding a fruitful result. And Australians are champions in using this X-factor with great effect. However the question arises how and when it started. Not going far behind in the history we can look back at the 80s era. In that era, Australia's intimidating bowlers like Lillie, Thomson, Merve Hughes were used to hurl quick and fiery spell in conjunction with some nasty sledging stuff to unsettle the batsmen. These tactics were being used only during the match depending upon the circumstances. Take an example- When Derek Underwood, Englands unorthodox left arm spin bowler, arrived for the batting, he was welcomed with a bouncer that hit to his hand. Ian Chappell approached him and asked, Which hand was it? To which Underwood replied, Its right. Chappell then said, Oh shit, we were aiming for the left.

raging bull- Merve Hughes

  But it was Steve Waugh who played it systematically, modified it, and used it as a planning tool in the battlefield of cricket giving it the name: - Mental Disintegration Theory. He says, "Entering in to the mind of a player is an art..." and we all know, Australians are master in this art.
 So how it works?
 Rule no. 1:
Distract opposition team from the core course, cricket, and compel them to discuss and think about undue prospects.
When the opposition team arrives, they give controversial comments and add fuel to it by different remarks. e.g. Sachin is more focused on his records, India's batting line up would be vulnerable against express Australian attack. Indian spinners won't get much purchase from the wicket. This stage is named as preliminary stage.
Rule No. 2:
When the series actually starts, the next weapon comes out; Two against eleven on the field. In the initial overs, they prepare for the wickets by bowling bouncers, sharp in and out swingers. and if batsman survives and starts playing some confident shots, they turn to twitting some personal remarks on the batsman.
Some examples:-
Merv Hughes to Robin Smith of England- You f**ing dont know how to bat.
Steve Waugh while planning for Nasser Hussain, We need to place a fielder right under the nose of Hussain. Ian Healy then added, the place could be anywhere in the three mile radius.
In fact I had read, Darrel Cullinan had even consulted to psychiatrist on how to tackle with Shane Warne. This is the extent to which Australia had the hold on few players something like hypnotism.
Rule no.3:
When it seems that the opposition is closing in and trying to grip the situation, the main weapon comes out. They start using abusive language, hurl at the batsman & provoke them. Moreover, wicket-keeper, slip fielders and short leg fielder tease the batsman between bowling change, during break, and also when the batsman gets deceived by good delivery. The question arises, Why all these things are required? Actually, cricket has two aspects. One is technical, and the other one is temperamental. This whole M.D. theory predominantly revolves around the second aspect, the temperamental.

The heat is on

The purpose of this theory is to create a psychological loop or web on the mind of the batsman through sledging, banters and witty comments; eventually, the batsman succumbs to the cumulative pressure created by this M.D. theory. However, implementing this theory is not as easy as it looks. Australia could achieve this because it had the clever captain in the form of Steve Waugh well supported by the legendary bowlers like G. Macgrath, Shane Warnie, Brett Lee, Gillespie, Kasprowich. This power-packed potent bowling unit had the ability to bowl aggressively all the time with immaculate consistency of line and length.
While narrating this theory Steve Waugh had stated, At international level you have to be mentally integrated, or else opposition will disintegrate you. However, sometimes Aussies got too much carried away with it. It was claimed by some players that Australians used very low level, humiliating, groveling language which was beyond tolerable limit. Arjuna Ranatunga, Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ganguly were amongst the few who got the most of the bitter taste of this theory.
But again in the end, " Kill, Destroy, Sack, Tell lie how much you want, because after victory no one asks why?" and this was the base of Waughs M.D. theory.

Intolerable moment of sledging