Jacques Kallis

Jacques Kallis has one mantra constantly running in his mind. Stay calm and composed till the end, is the right path towards energy saving process, feels Kallis. South African fast swing bowler, who is considered as the greatest cricketers of all time and the tag ‘all-rounder’, adds to it. He was the pillar of strength to the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL seasons when they were performing badly. He was a man of motivation and optimism for the team.

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South Africa had just kindled their World Cup practices by kicking off their first warm-up match. Kallis predominantly focusing on the batting, the team made its smooth way into the get-ready games. His calmness and placidity initially can be owed to his rib-injury that had occurred since the last Test against India.

“Look before you leap” is a famous quote which seems well apropos to him. Jacques has a style of having a slow start in order to gain momentum and get accustomed with the bowler. Once his plot is set, Kallis turns wild and aggressive with the willows. This is the time he is more around the creases and not with the bowling.

SA Captain, Graeme Smith feels it would be too much on Kallis to spend time on batting and fielding. The duo seems more focused on the batting edge; however cricket is like a double-edged sword where any edge (batting or fielding) may put to downfall. Once the sessions with creases are over, Kallis is likely to spend more time for building up his bowling tactics. Long practice hours on batting made the observers wonder if Kallis is in the bowling squad at all. This is due to fact that this veteran holds the record of 307 ODIs.

Besides preserving Kallis for bowling, his instant sixes, fours against Zimbabwe at Chennai made the SA team win with an ease.

The method of Kallis making runs can be quotes as a ‘ruthless fashion’. His runs made to the balls hit ratio seem so impressive and considering the time too, it is just rapid!

All Jacques needs is little time, patience and a warm-up period. Given these, the show is promised.

The SA team is ready for its second warm-up match at the Garden City, to play against Australia.

Saturday seems far in the future – Wait for the Pick No. 2.

Tags: Bowler, Cricketer, IPL, Jacques Kallis, KKR, Kolkata Knight Riders, SA, South Africa, World Cup