 Johannesburg: South Africa captain AB De Villiers along with Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene have paid glowing tributes to veteran Proteas all rounder Jacques Kallis.
Kallis returned career-best figures of 4-15 to take the man of the match award as South Africa thrashed Zimbabwe by 10 wickets on Thursday
De Villiers said he feels jealous of Kallis for still performing brilliantly at his age of 37, and added that it’s their great luck to have such an amazing player in the team.
“Jacques is an amazing player, one of a kind. Obviously I`ve no idea how he keeps doing it,” Sports24 quoted De Villiers, as saying.
“I am jealous at what he gets right at this old age, I can`t think of myself doing that at that age. He is a wonderful player and we are grateful to have him in the squad,” he added.
Meanwhile, Jayawardene branded Kallis as the best all rounder of their generation in every form of cricket.
“I don`t think anyone would disagree that Jacques would be the best all-rounder in our generation in all forms of the game,” Jayawardene said.
“He`s improving everyday and that`s because of the hunger that he has and the competitive edge. He didn`t show any complacency when he went out against Zimbabwe, the intensity was the same,” he added.
“That`s a quality that every young cricketer should have. Jacques is a great opponent and that level of players, that`s what they want to do. They don`t want to be remembered as players who used to be brilliant, not so any more but they want to be at the top as long as they play,” he said.
Kallis, who made his Test debut in 1995, has scored more than 10 000 runs and taken over 200 wickets in both Tests and the 50-over format.
ANI
First Published: Saturday, September 22, 2012, 13:21
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