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Jacques Kallis, the former South African all-rounder, considered as one of the best players to ever grace the sport of cricket, turned 48 on Monday.
Ever since his international debut in 1995 till 2014, Kallis performed consistently for Proteas with both bat and ball developing into a statistician's delight. His numbers as an all-rounder are a benchmark that every player wants to achieve in the crafts or batting and bowling. He represented SA in 166 Tests, scoring 13,289 runs at an average of 55.37. He scored 45 centuries and 58 fifties, with the best score of 224. He has the highest Test runs and matches for Proteas. Kallis is the third-highest run-scorer in Tests, behind Ricky Ponting (13,378) and Sachin Tendulkar (15,921). Kallis also took a total of 292 wickets in Tests at an average of 32.65, with the best figures of 6/54. He is the sixth-highest wicket-taker for SA in the longer format, with the best bowler being Dale Steyn (439 wickets). In ODIs, Kallis represented SA in 328 matches, scoring 11,579 runs at an average of 44.36 and a strike rate of almost 73. He has 17 tons and 89 fifties in 314 innings, with the best score of 139. He has the most runs and matches for Proteas in ODIs. He is the eighth-highest run-scorer in ODI history, with Sachin Tendulkar at the top with 18,426 runs. Kallis also has 273 ODI wickets at an average of 31.79 and best bowling figures of 5/30. Behind Shaun Pollock (387), he is the second-highest wicket-taker for Proteas in ODIs. He won the 1998 ICC Champions Trophy (then known as ICC Knockouts) In 25 T20Is, Kallis scored 666 runs at an average of 35.05, with five half-centuries and a strike rate of over 119. His best score is 73. He also has 12 wickets in the format with best figures of 4/15. Overall in 519 international games, Kallis scored 25,534 runs at an average of 49.10 and a strike rate of over 56. He has scored 62 international tons and 149 fifties in 617 innings, with the best score of 224. Kallis is the sixth-highest run-scorer in international cricket, with Sachin at the top with 34,357 runs. He is the highest run-scorer for SA in international cricket. Kallis has also taken a total of 577 international wickets at an average of 32.14 and best figures of 6/54. He is the fifth-highest wicket-taker for SA in international cricket, with Shaun Pollock at the top with 823 scalps. The all-rounder also won two Indian Premier League (IPL) titles with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). In 98 IPL matches, he scored 2,427 runs at an average of 28.55, with 17 fifties and took 65 wickets. (ANI)
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