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Where would Jacques Kallis rank amongst the great cricketers and all-rounders?

right near the top, second best batting all rounder after sobers, maybe even equal with him.
 
Fantastic batter and a legend of the game as a batter and an all-rounder. But personally for me his bowling was more exciting than his batting. His batting was bit dull and boring to watch.
 
Kallis is arguably the greatest test batting all-rounder of all time.
Imran Khan is the greatest test bowling all-rounder of all time

However, most cricket Pundits would go for Sobers because of his impact and charisma. However, this is also a matter of subjective opinion.

Kallis: 13289 runs in 166 games @ 55.37 with 45 hundreds. 292 wickets at 32.65, five x 5wI. 200 Catches
Sobers: 8032 runs in 93 tests @ 57.78 with 26 hundreds. 235 wickets at 34.03, six x 5wI. 109 catches
 
VForVendetta said:
What exactly are we talking about here? Is it purely based on stats? If so, then absolutely, there can be no further dispute. But if it's not stats, rather match credentials then you need to explain how was he better than Imran & Botham? What exactly makes him a better all rounder than those two gentlemen? Then there's Miller who belongs to a bygone era, but I have a feeling certain oldtimers who were lucky enough to witness him will claim his greatness.
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Sobers clearing Kallis does not mean that Kallis is clearing IK.

Botham is his first half was better than any all rounders. I am talking about bringing batting and bowling both, but he fell away in his second half. I will put Sobers first then Kallis/IK and then Miller/Botham taking account of their entire career.

Kallis was regulalrly contributing with secondary skills to get to near 300 test wickets. It's massive and can be seen as equivalent of a bowling all rounder getting near 8K-9K runs.
 
Buffet said:
Sobers clearing Kallis does not mean that Kallis is clearing IK.

Botham is his first half was better than any all rounders. I am talking about bringing batting and bowling both, but he fell away in his second half. I will put Sobers first then Kallis/IK and then Miller/Botham taking account of their entire career.

Kallis was regulalrly contributing with secondary skills to get to near 300 test wickets. It's massive and can be seen as equivalent of a bowling all rounder getting near 8K-9K runs.
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Botham's peak was phenomenal but his low points were pretty low too. He couldn't manage his injuries. First the pace dropped and then his bowling became pretty pedestrian. He was essentially playing as a batsman after a certain point and even his batting fell away considerably during his last few years.

For that reason, I wouldn't even put him ahead of Hadlee (who is very underrated) and Kapil Dev, let alone Imran.
 
For me, Kallis is the best batting allrounder in tests even above Sobers (the longevity factor of Kallis and marginally better bowling exploits puts him ahead IMO)
 
People generally don't talk about kallis when they are talking about genuine all-rounders but Kallis has done enough to get noticed. He should be among top 10 for me.
 
For me, the order in test cricket would be:-

Sobers
Imran
Kallis
Miller
Botham
S Pollock
Kapil/Jadeja
Stokes
 
No one apart from Bradman can touch Sobers as a cricketer. Sobers is arguably the best batsman ever after Bradman, while Kallis is behind Tendulkar, Lara and Ponting as a batsman from his own time.​
 
Sobers is > Kallis lol.

Kallis is a terrific test batsmen though and a decent bowler. He is top 3 or 2 depending on perspective
 
For some reason I’ve never been partial to batting allrounders. Just like the 4 greats of the 80s, I would put batting allrounders together for comparison.

So the only comparison for Kallis is Sobers. For me Sobers wins because he had a wider array of shots and also played at different tempos.

Regardless, both are greats and forget allrounders, they should be compared against the greatest batsmen ever. Imo both make the top 10 of all time batsmen
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Botham's peak was phenomenal but his low points were pretty low too. He couldn't manage his injuries. First the pace dropped and then his bowling became pretty pedestrian. He was essentially playing as a batsman after a certain point and even his batting fell away considerably during his last few years.

For that reason, I wouldn't even put him ahead of Hadlee (who is very underrated) and Kapil Dev, let alone Imran.
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Botham from 1977-85 was the closest to a perfect allrounder. Matchwinner both with bat & ball. Nobody except Gary SObers came close to that

Only issue was his below par performances against West Jndies
 
Possibly the greatest among Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, Sangakkara and others in that 90s/2000s generation - because of his bowling abilities.
 
Today the cricket world celebrates the 50th birthday of Jacques Kallis, one of the greatest cricketers to have strode on our planet, who has a strong case for being rated the 2nd best allrounder to Sir Garfield Sobers if not the best allrounder ever and the best cricketer of his generation.

Kallis was not the run of the mill entertainer or as explosive like Ian Botham or Kapil Dev, not as charismatic as Sachin Tendulkar or Imran Khan or as artistic as Gary Sobers or Wasim Akram. However possibly he surpassed them all for all round cricketing tenacity or endurance, with his prolonged tenures at the crease, making a habit of saving games.

Kallis ended up with skyrocketing figures, scaling horizons unscaled statistically and setting new parameters by an all-rounder, piling on 13,289 runs at an average of 55.37., scoring 45 centuries, in 137 tests,capturing 292 wickets and taking 200 catches. In ODI’s he scored 7995 runs at an average of 43.93 with 13 centuries at and captured 203 wickets at an average of 32.33.

He twice had purple patches where he made five hundreds in the space of eight innings or fewer, statistically surpassing the likes of Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Gary Sobers or Sachin Tendulkar, in this respect, as a run machine.


There is heated debate in the cricketing world on whether Kallis ranks above or on par with Sir Garfield Sobers , 2nd best allrounder of all time ahead of the likes of Imran Khan, Keith Milller, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev and 2nd best ever cricketer to Don Bradman.

Without the slightest hesitation I would not rank Kallis on par with Sir Garfield Sobers. No doubt Kallis’s staggering statistical figures were overwhelming and superseded Sobers, but comparative figures do not convey the unequalled aesthetic qualities of Sobers or overpowering influence as match-winner. Kallis did not posess the diversity of the bowling armoury of Sobers which had genuine pace, fast, medium spin and chinaman, nor as wide array of batting strokes or as contemptuous power. Kallis has never come up with innings equalling Sobers’s majestic 254 at Melbourne in 1972 and 132 in the tied test in 1961, nor turned in all round performances in a single series in the stature of Sobers in England in 1966 or playing for Rest of the World in 1970 in England. However, Kallis was the more durable and more effective in saving match and in peak stints surpassed Sobers in batting consistency., like in 2003-04. No allrounder in cricket history displayed equal consistency with the bat as Kallis or transcended as superlative heights in run scoring in peak periods.

As great fast bowlers win matches more than great batsmen the likes of Imran Khan, Keith Miller, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev could win more matches than Kallis. Kapil Dev, Miller and Botham were also more dynamic with the bat. Still had Kallis played in their era, he may well have overshadowed them all, having to carry less workload as a bowler. -with half as much cricket played then than in his era.

Pertinent that Kallis was not at his best with both bat and ball like Sobers, Botham or Miller, but one has to take into account the transition in the game, which acted against a cricketer’s all-round prowess.

Even if the verdict may well result in dead heat between Keith Miller, Ian Botham, Jacques Kallis and Imran Khan with a gun on my head I place Kallis as the runner up to Sobers, in the plethora of great all-rounders of all time. To replace Gary Sobers in an all-time test team, my first choice would be Kallis.

In comparison to the greatest cricketers like Bradman, Sobers, Viv Richards, Tendulkar and Brian Lara, Kallis lacked the crucial ‘x’ factor. Still, I would choose him amongst my top 15 cricketers of all time.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Harsh Thakor said:
Today the cricket world celebrates the 50th birthday of Jacques Kallis, one of the greatest cricketers to have strode on our planet, who has a strong case for being rated the 2nd best allrounder to Sir Garfield Sobers if not the best allrounder ever and the best cricketer of his generation.

Kallis was not the run of the mill entertainer or as explosive like Ian Botham or Kapil Dev, not as charismatic as Sachin Tendulkar or Imran Khan or as artistic as Gary Sobers or Wasim Akram. However possibly he surpassed them all for all round cricketing tenacity or endurance, with his prolonged tenures at the crease, making a habit of saving games.

Kallis ended up with skyrocketing figures, scaling horizons unscaled statistically and setting new parameters by an all-rounder, piling on 13,289 runs at an average of 55.37., scoring 45 centuries, in 137 tests,capturing 292 wickets and taking 200 catches. In ODI’s he scored 7995 runs at an average of 43.93 with 13 centuries at and captured 203 wickets at an average of 32.33.

He twice had purple patches where he made five hundreds in the space of eight innings or fewer, statistically surpassing the likes of Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Gary Sobers or Sachin Tendulkar, in this respect, as a run machine.


There is heated debate in the cricketing world on whether Kallis ranks above or on par with Sir Garfield Sobers , 2nd best allrounder of all time ahead of the likes of Imran Khan, Keith Milller, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev and 2nd best ever cricketer to Don Bradman.

Without the slightest hesitation I would not rank Kallis on par with Sir Garfield Sobers. No doubt Kallis’s staggering statistical figures were overwhelming and superseded Sobers, but comparative figures do not convey the unequalled aesthetic qualities of Sobers or overpowering influence as match-winner. Kallis did not posess the diversity of the bowling armoury of Sobers which had genuine pace, fast, medium spin and chinaman, nor as wide array of batting strokes or as contemptuous power. Kallis has never come up with innings equalling Sobers’s majestic 254 at Melbourne in 1972 and 132 in the tied test in 1961, nor turned in all round performances in a single series in the stature of Sobers in England in 1966 or playing for Rest of the World in 1970 in England. However, Kallis was the more durable and more effective in saving match and in peak stints surpassed Sobers in batting consistency., like in 2003-04. No allrounder in cricket history displayed equal consistency with the bat as Kallis or transcended as superlative heights in run scoring in peak periods.

As great fast bowlers win matches more than great batsmen the likes of Imran Khan, Keith Miller, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev could win more matches than Kallis. Kapil Dev, Miller and Botham were also more dynamic with the bat. Still had Kallis played in their era, he may well have overshadowed them all, having to carry less workload as a bowler. -with half as much cricket played then than in his era.

Pertinent that Kallis was not at his best with both bat and ball like Sobers, Botham or Miller, but one has to take into account the transition in the game, which acted against a cricketer’s all-round prowess.

Even if the verdict may well result in dead heat between Keith Miller, Ian Botham, Jacques Kallis and Imran Khan with a gun on my head I place Kallis as the runner up to Sobers, in the plethora of great all-rounders of all time. To replace Gary Sobers in an all-time test team, my first choice would be Kallis.

In comparison to the greatest cricketers like Bradman, Sobers, Viv Richards, Tendulkar and Brian Lara, Kallis lacked the crucial ‘x’ factor. Still, I would choose him amongst my top 15 cricketers of all time.
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Could even say greatest player of all time tbh

No doubt he was
 
Behind Sobers and Imran.

Imran Khan is a real GOAT.

Won player of series in Windies
Won player of series in India
Won player of series in England
Won player of series in Australia
Won player of series in Pakistan
Won World Cup Final with bat at no.3

He had a great series in New Zealand too.

Legendary captain as well.
 
Ab Fan said:
Behind Sobers and Imran.

Imran Khan is a real GOAT.

Won player of series in Windies
Won player of series in India
Won player of series in England
Won player of series in Australia
Won player of series in Pakistan
Won World Cup Final with bat at no.3

He had a great series in New Zealand too.

Legendary captain as well.
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Yep... Imran was next level... Great as batter. Great as bowler...
 
Happy 50th Birthday!

BouncerGuy said:
Yep... Imran was next level... Great as batter. Greact as bowler...
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Did I read it right? He was at best a pretty decent lower order batsman, much like Ravindra Jadeja. Ask anyone who followed his entire career and who is not a blind fan. Please don't use the word great so lightly.​
 
Hitman said:
Happy 50th Birthday!


Did I read it right? He was at best a pretty decent lower order batsman, much like Ravindra Jadeja. Ask anyone who followed his entire career and who is not a blind fan. Please don't use the word great so lightly.​
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As an allrounder we are talking here... Stop getting triggered over any Pakistani name.. MOVE ON brother
 
BouncerGuy said:
As an allrounder we are talking here... Stop getting triggered over any Pakistani name.. MOVE ON brother
Click to expand...
You said great as a batter. Him being a great batter would be as ridiculous as Sobers being a great bowler.
 
Ab Fan said:
Behind Sobers and Imran.

Imran Khan is a real GOAT.

Won player of series in Windies
Won player of series in India
Won player of series in England
Won player of series in Australia
Won player of series in Pakistan
Won World Cup Final with bat at no.3

He had a great series in New Zealand too.

Legendary captain as well.
Click to expand...

Kallis deserves to be up there with both Sobers & Imran, without ranking them all, I’d say he was of that ilk because nobody else has come close to these ridiculously good A/R’s. Perhaps for impact maybe Kapil can be considered and that underdog WC win has to be one of the great sporting upsets of all time during a period when WI were invincible.
 
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