Ricky Ponting’s Pick for the Greatest Cricketer Ever-Why Jacques Kallis Tops the List

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has gone on record with a bold statement that has shaken the cricketing world, declaring South Africa's Jacques Kallis as the greatest cricketer to have ever played the game. Having faced cricketing legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sir Don Bradman, and Brian Lara throughout his illustrious career, Ponting has firmly placed Kallis at the top of the list, a choice that raises eyebrows considering the iconic players he omitted.

Ponting's rationale for naming the «best ever» cricketer to accompany him Kallis is furthered in the-all-rounder's remarkable career achievement. Kallis both a batsman and a bowler has set up records that many cricketers could only dream of. For a glittering 19-year International career, Kallis registered 13,000 Test runs with 45 centuries-an achievement extraordinary in itself. But batting wasn't his domain alone. Kallis had also taken over 300 Test match wickets. He is indeed a cricketer of great all-round skill. In Ponting's words, these two feats would have made any batsman a legend and any bowler a legend, but the fact that he achieved both has made him something unique, someone who can never be replaced.

I don't care about all the others. Full stop. 13,000 runs. 44 or 45 Test hundreds. And 300 wickets. Either one of those careers is outstanding. You can take 300 Test wickets every day of the week, and you take 45 Test hundreds. He's got them both. He was just a born cricketer." Ponting is full of praise for Kallis as he describes him as a player who did not hanker for limelight but spoke through his performance.

While talking about Kallis' fielding, Ponting also talked about the South African's brilliance in the slip cordon. Kallis might not have been the most conventional of technicians, but his ability to catch everything that came his way made him one of the safest fielders in the game. This is often an underappreciated part of Kallis' skill set, but Ponting's praise brings it to the fore and highlights how this underrated part of his game contributed to his overall greatness.

His career in cricket is characterized by many striking features. The most vivid among them is how he consistently managed to balance batting and bowling at the highest level. Kallis is the only player in cricket history to have scored over 10,000 runs and taken more than 200 wickets in both Tests and ODIs. He is the first and only man to have gained more than 12,000 runs and more than 500 wickets in international cricket. This achievement marks him as one of the all-time great all-rounders.

Another feature that distinguishes Kallis from others is his non-public nature. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Kallis was not an off-field showman. He never sought media attention or had to build public persona like most modern-day cricketers do. His private nature has made him somewhat "unremembered" by the cricketing fraternity, believes Ponting, who also states that the unsung nature off the field has made Kallis underpaid.

Such was Kallis' cricket on the field-never dull and always a thrill. He won the Player of the Match award 23 times in his 166 Test matches, which is a record that still has not been beaten. Overall, Kallis won the Player of the Match 57 times in all formats of the game. Of these, 32 came in ODIs, and in this aspect also, he finds himself in the top rungs of the league. His flexibility made him a match-winner in all forms of the game, both bat and ball.

One of the most memorable matches for Kallis was in the Test series when he played a crucial role to help South Africa win in 2007, in Pakistan. Kallis notched a scintillating 155 on the first day, helping the team set the platform well enough. In the second innings, he again put up an unrun 100, and by declaring, they made it certain that they had a good situation. Such all-round contributions cemented his position as one of the most reliable and valuable cricketers of his generation.

Ricky Ponting's choice of Jacques Kallis as the greatest cricketer ever may come as a surprise to many, especially given the formidable cricketing giants he passed over. Legends like Tendulkar, Bradman, and Lara are often said to be the ultimate of cricketing, but Ponting's statement makes all-rounder brilliance a defining characteristic of the game. The combination of Kallis' brilliance in all facets of the game with his consistency and records ensures that his legacy endures as one of cricket's greatest ever.

In the final analysis, the Ponting endorsement is a constant reminder that excellence in cricket transcends individual brilliance but rather speaks about the potential a player can show to sway the game in various ways. For Kallis, legacy is not just just runs and wickets accumulated but the sheer impact he had every time he took the field.