Cricket has always been a fascinating game for me. Could well be because it's mind-boggling rapid growth in India coincided with my childhood and teen days. Having grown up watching many great cricketers and having read or heard about the greats of the yester years, it's inevitable that I often think about who the greatest batsman, bowler and all-rounder have been. I'm well aware that comparing stats of players who have played across different time periods is a cardinal sin, and players can never be compared as there are multiple dynamics involved. However, you cannot ignore the question of the greatest. And when I do think about them, I'm bewildered every single time about 1 name — Jacques Kallis, who in my opinion is the greatest all-rounder (you don't have to agree with me :)) but has been very under rated, hasn't gotten the due recognition and hasn't been spoken about in the same breath as some of the others.

Before diving into the thoughts that support my earlier point, let's first take a quick look at Jacques Kallis' stats. I want to lay them out now so that both you and I have time — by the end of this piece — to truly grasp the magnitude of his achievements and let it all sink in.

That's a combined total of ~25k runs and ~560+ wickets across Tests and ODIs!! Phew. Another interesting stat — his Test record is as better than Rahul Dravid just as a batsman and better than Zaheer Khan just as a bowler.

And just to give you a context of how good these numbers are, just as a batsman, Kallis is the 4th highest run scorer in Tests (he was the 3rd highest until Joe Root overtook him in the ongoing Test match between England and India) and 8th highest run scorer in ODIs. As a bowler alone, he is the 7th highest wicket taker in Tests for South Africa and the 3rd highest wicket taker in ODIs for South Africa. Add to it that he is the 5th on the list of most catches taken in Tests and 8th on the list in ODIs. He could have been selected for his national side purely as a batsman or a bowler only.

All-rounders are a rare breed. While batsmen and bowlers are expected to do well in their respective departments, all-rounders are expected to perform in both. A top-order batsman and a spin bowler is difficult to find as most all-rounders bat in the middle or lower order (№.6 / 7 / 8) but Kallis is one of those rarest cricketers who was top-order batsman and a fast bowler, who could bowl 140+ kmph consistently. In the modern era (I'm talking about post the ྜ World Cup from when I remember started watching cricket), I can't think of any other cricketer who had this unique skillset.

Given all this, I'm intrigued by the fact that when discussions happen on the topic of greatest all-rounders of the game, it is often Sir Garfield Sobers or Ian Botham or Kapil Dev or Imran Khan who are spoken about and Kallis does not feature in that list. Could it be because he was a very quiet person with no drama at all on and off the field, who had a lot of passion but did not show it out? Does a cricketer have to be flamboyant and a "character" to be noticed, no matter what his stats are? In the world of social media, where everything is out there to be seen, does a cricketer have to do more than just play well to be considered a great?

I don't know, and maybe Kallis doesn't too.