...What a refreshing first day of the test match it was in Nagpur where a solid South Africa demonstrated the classic old test match approch. We are so used to the fast way of life in the times of T-20 cricket and IPL that when two two classic orthodox players jutted it out in the middle, many of the indians felt frustrated and bored. But I for one, for a difference, felt refreshingly happy, seeing their batsmanship. South Africa were tottering at 6/2 towards the start, thanks to the brilliance of the one and only fast bowler in India - Zaheer - when Kallis and Amla came on to play one of the winsome batting displays. Their's were an innings of Concentration, Graft, impregnable batting mixed with classic stroke play.
Even after 12 years of International cricket and records apart, Kallis continues to be one of the most under-rated players of world cricket. When people rates the greats of the game, Kallis seldom comes to mind, and perhaps the main reason for this is that we all have a penchant for 'drama' and 'dramatism' and Kallis is not.
Kallis has 34 tons to equal Sunil Gavaskar and only Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting ahead of him. Add to that his 260+ test wickets at at amazing average of around 30, he is surely one of the best allrounders cricket world has seen.
While the match was progressing, the statistics were shown that out of the 34 Test tons he had, 17 of them were for winning causes and only 3 out of the 34 were on a lost cause. The Indians are surely hoping to make that figure to four.
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