Australian cricket great Ricky Ponting has hailed legendary South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis as the greatest cricketer to have ever played the game.
The 49-year-old Kallis had a stellar international career with the Proteas, spanning over a decade and retired back in 2013 with an impressive Test batting average of 55.37 and a bowling average of 32.65.
Although widely regarded as one of all-time great, Kallis is often overlooked in discussions about the greatest cricketer of all time with many critics naming players such as legendary Indian batters Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and West Indies great Brian Lara.
However, speaking on The Howie Games podcast on YouTube, the former Australian captain said he believes that Kallis was the greatest cricketer in the history of the game.
“Jacques Kallis is the best cricketer who has ever played. I don’t care I don’t care about everybody else," Ponting said.
"Jacques Kallis is the full stop for me. 13,000 runs – 44 or 45 Test centuries and 300 wickets. He has had an amazing career. You can take 300 Test wickets, and you can score 45 Test centuries but to do both feats at the same time is amazing. Jacques has done both"
Ponting further added that the South African all-rounder was underrated in the cricket world.
👕 166 Tests, 328 ODIs, 25 T20Is
🏏 25,534 runs | 62 💯s
☝️ 577 wickets at 32.14
👏 Record 23 Test Player of the Match awards
🏅 #ICCHallOfFame inductee in 2020
Happy birthday to one of the greatest cricketers ever, Jacques Kallis 🎂 pic.twitter.com/daJ2dSyKwe
“Unorthodox in the slips, didn’t drop anything in the slips, had a sort of funny technique, caught everything. I think he’s the best and the most underrated because he’s not talked about very much at all. Probably because of his personality and his character. He’s not out there.
"He’s low-key, yeah. Hasn’t done much media work. So, he’s sort of one of those forgotten-about ones a little bit," Ponting added.
IOL Sport