My son Shaurya, just 10 years old, is a great cricket fan. Amongst his 3 most favourite players are Sachin Tendulkar (no marks for guessing it right), Shane Warne (Shaurya is a leggie, and who other than Shane could be his idol) and Brett Lee (a cricketer and a gentleman thoroughly loved by India, who my son also reveres). Ask him who my favourite all-time player is, and pat will come the answer – Jacques Kallis. Why Kallis, a lot of my saner cricket-fanatic friends ask, when there is a Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, or has been a Ganguly, Gavaskar, Kapil, Kumble, in India alone. And why not Brian Lara, Gary Sobers or Vivian Richards, or Muralitharan or Jayasuriya, or Ian Botham, or Imran Khan or Wasim Akram, or Hadlee or one of Warne, Ponting, Steve Waugh, McGrath or Alan Border. And why not Bradman himself? Why, in the name or lord, Jacques Kallis!!!
Well there are many reasons for the same. But I think only one is enough. The man, every time he steps out to play for his team, gives his side the edge of playing not one but two players, thereby virtually playing a 12-member team instead of the mandated 11. And not two average players, but two players who would find their way in the team individually – either as a top order batsman or as a top order bowler. And not just in Tests or ODIs, but in both forms of the game. The man has over 11,000 runs in both tests and ODIs, and over 250 wickets in each of the forms! Now, show me a cricketer who’s bigger and more valuable to any team. My dearest friend and co-blogger, Varun, may tend to disagree with me, calling me a man of statistics alone, but I would gently remind him that so is he – when he cites Sachin’s 50 centuries in tests and another 46 in ODIs, or the fact that Sachin has more runs than any individual in both forms of the game, or that Sachin has won more games (arguably) than most other people for his team. What is this, if it is not statistics?
There are all-rounders who’ve been admired all over the world. The leading players (with over 300 wickets and over 3,000 runs in tests) who make the cut are Shane Warne, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, Shaun Pollock (you may be surprised to see him here, but the man has 3,781 runs and 421 wickets to his credit!), Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Chaminda Vaas (yes sir, the man who’s not at all known for his batting has over 3,000 runs apart from over 350 wickets!) and Daniel Vettori. Jacques Kallis, the immediate next on the list has almost 12,000 runs. He’s no. 5 on the all time list – with only Sachin, Ponting, Dravid and Lara ahead of him; and with Ponting, the 2nd highest scorer being just 500-odd ahead of him, Kallis is threatening to become the No.2 on the all time list sooner than later. And now take this – with 39 centuries to boot, he’s the 2nd highest centurion sharing the spot with Ponting, but with just 245 innings to get them, he’s ahead of Ponting who’s played 259! And the man also bowls, and like how!!!
Now, let’s also examine ODIs for the same. There are just 3 cricketers who have over 300 wickets and over 3,000 runs – Wasim Akram, Shaun Pollock (what, the man is here as well!) and Sanath Jayasuriya. Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzak, Kapil Dev, Chris Harris and Chris Cairns make up the list of those with over 200 wickets and over 3,000 runs – which including the first 3 is an elite club of just 9 cricketers. Kallis, with 11,002 runs including 17 centuries and 259 wickets, features prominently in this list of super-achievers.
I tried to figure out the greatness of Kallis, but there has to be a standard measure that can map him against other greats, and not just emotions. So, I resorted to a fantasy game – Super Selector – that my friends and I often play, where everyday we select teams during a tournament, and based on their actual on-ground performance, it is determined who the best Super Selector is. Apart from other things, in Super Selector, there are points allocated to everything that impacts a game. A single run = 1 point, a catch/run out = 5 points, a wicket = 25 points, and so on. There are additional points for half centuries, centuries or 2 or more wickets in an innings, strike rates, maiden overs bonuses, etc. that add to the complexity of the fantasy game. But for the purpose of this evaluation, I shall stick to just 2 measures – runs scored (1 point for each run), and wickets taken (25 points for each wicket). And I shall evaluate the top batsmen, top bowlers, and leading all-rounders for the purpose.
Let’s start with batsmen, and start from the top, which in my opinion, is a great place to start. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar – 17,598 runs and 154 wickets in ODIs = 21,448 points. Add to this 14,532 runs and 44 wickets in tests = 15,632 points. Add the two together and we get 37,080 points – that’s a lot, isn’t it? Now, let’s consider the second guy, Sanath Jayasuriya. 13,428 runs and 322 wickets in ODIs = 21,478 points (what – the guy is actually 30 points more valuable than Sachin in ODIs!!!). And in tests, 6,973 runs and and 98 wickets = 9,423 points (Sachin kills him here). So, his total is 30,901. Mean, nonetheless. Ricky Pointing, the no. 2 batsman in tests and no. 3 batsman in ODIs is next. In ODIs, he’s got 13,082 runs and 3 wickets, totaling to 13,157 points. And in tests 12,363 runs and 5 wickets get him 12,488 points. Total is 25,645 points (far behind even Sanath).
Let’s jump straight to bowlers now. Muthiah Muralithan, with his 800 test wickets, is right on top. His 800 wickets and 1,261 runs in tests = 21,261 points (wow, the man is far ahead of his batsmen companions in tests). And in ODIs, 517 wickets and 865 runs = 13,790 points. Totals to overall 35,051 points. Second only to Sachin thus far. Let’s look at Shane Warne, the all-time no. 2 wicket taker, and also an all-rounder (as we just discovered above). 708 wickets and 3,154 runs in tests = 20,854 points (no mean feat – bowlers seem to be batting the pulp out of batsmen in tests). In ODIs, 293 wickets and 1,018 runs = 8,343 points. Total tally is 29,197 points (interestingly, he’s behind Sachin, Murali & Sanath, but way ahead of Ponting).
Now, let’s consider the all-rounders, and let’s start with Wasim Akram. In ODIs, 502 wickets and 3,717 runs = 16,267 points. In tests, 414 wickets and 2,898 runs = 13,248 points. Total tally is 29,515 points (he’s beaten Warne, and Ponting continues to be pounded). Kapil Dev is the next big bet. In ODIs, 253 wickets and 3,783 runs = 10,108 points. In tests, 434 wickets and 5,248 runs = 16,098 points. Total tally is 26,206 (way behind Akram, but hey - Ponting - behind Kapil too, is getting rickety now). The other all-rounders don’t measure up (Pollock is 3rd best overall), and we’ll ignore them for the calculation.
Now, let’s bring in Kallis. In tests, 11,677 runs and 270 wickets = 18,427 points (behind Muralitharan and Warne, but ahead of Sachin). In ODIs, 11,002 runs and 259 wickets = 17,477 points. Add the two, and we get 35,904 points, which is second only to Sachin overall, and a little over 1,000 points behind. So, that means that Sachin is the greatest and most valuable player in the world for sure. Hang on a bit my friends, for there is another piece of data to be added to this calculation – no. of matches. Sachin has played 431 tests and 288 ODIs, which adds up to 719 matches. Now, if we divide his total points (37,080), we get 51.57 points per match. Let’s do the same math first for Muralitharan who’s third in the overall all-time list with 35,051 points, barely a thousand behind Kallis. With 339 ODIs and 133 tests, he’s played a total of 472 matches. And his average points per match are 74.26 (almost 1.5 times that of Sachin!). Kallis has played 144 tests and 307 ODIs, totaling 451 matches. Which, considering his 35,904 points, brings his points contribution per match to 79.61 – ahead of Murali, and over 1.5 times that of Sachin!!!
Some people, in fact probably many, will not have finally enjoyed reading this piece which clearly demonstrates the supremacy of Kallis over so many much better known, and much more adored players. But for me, the biggest God of cricket resides in South Africa, and his name is Jacques Kallis.
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
