Jacques Kallis was said to be second to only Garry Sobers. As Kallis retires from cricket, Nishad Pai Vaidya looks at a very interesting statistic.
Jacques Kallis was said to be second to only Garry Sobers, arguably the greatest all-rounder the world has seen. While it is fallacious to compare the two, as they played cricket in different eras, one can say that statistics do show that they tower above the rest if their all-round records are concerned. Kallis’ numbers are far superior, but that is because he played many more games and also turned up in the two younger formats of cricket. As he bids good bye to the game, cricket loses an all-round marvel and he would be sorely missed by the fraternity.
If one looks at the statistics of players with over 200 wickets in international wickets and 5,000 runs, then Sobers and Kallis have the best difference between their batting and bowling averages. They have the greatest difference between batting and bowling averages if one considers their records across the different formats of the game:
Player
M*
R
Ave
100s
HS
W
Bowl. Ave
BBI
5WI
AD**
Garry Sobers
94
8032
57.37
26
365*
236
34.02
6/73
6
23.34
Jacques Kallis
519
25534
49.1
62
224
577
32.14
6/54
7
16.95
Imran Khan
263
7516
35.45
7
136
544
24.08
8/58
24
11.36
Shane Watson
270
9738
37.16
13
185*
271
24.08
6/33
3
7.34
Steve Waugh
493
18496
41.65
35
200
287
35.56
5/28
3
6.09
*includes Tests, ODIs and T20 internationals. **Difference between batting and bowling average.
Remember one fact: Sobers played only one One-Day International (ODI), in which he was dismissed for a duck. When compared to other players in this list, he has only 94 games. If one leaves Sobers out, Kallis is easily the greatest modern all-rounder in terms of the numbers. A difference of 16.95 between the batting and bowling average is proof of that.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.