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.