South African all-rounder, Jacques
Kallis, has declared that the Boxing Day match against India is going to be the
last Test match in his cricket career. This decision was announced by him on
Wednesday at the beginning of the second Test against India. In his statement, he
expressed his desire to play in the 2015 World Cup for South Africa.
Since making his debut against England
in December 1995, Jacques Kallis has so far played 165 Test matches. In his
long cricket career of eighteen years, he has scored 13174 runs at an average
of 55.12, including 44 centuries and 58 half-centuries. He is currently the
fourth highest run scorer in the longest format of cricket game, behind Sachin
Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid.
Kallis has shown excellent performance with
the ball by taking 292 Test wickets so far at an average of 32.53. By capturing
199 Test catches, Kallis is at present taking the second position on the list
of fielders with most catches in a career.
It should be hard to find any suitable
player who can replace his position successfully after his retirement from the
national squad. Not only the SA cricket team will be deprived of his service
but also his teammates will miss his company. According to the SA coach,
Russell Domingo, the team would miss Kallis’ presence in the dressing room.
Jacques Kallis has also been admired by
Cricket South Africa's chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, who mentioned him South
African cricket's “Rock of Gibraltar”.
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