Jacques Kallis Is The Toughest Batsman I've Bowled Against: Kemar Roach

Jacques Kallis. What is that one thing that comes to your mind when you read or hear about the former South African legendary all-rounder? Gun batsman? A more than potent bowler? Outstanding slip-fielder? A team man? A complete cricketer? A once in a generation cricketer?

To be honest, Jacques Kallis is an amalgamation of all those aforementioned facts. For almost the entirety of his career, Jacques Kallis was a pivot around which the fulcrum of the South African batting-unit revolved.

And, no wonder why West Indian fast bowler Kemar Roach has hailed the South African legend as the toughest batsman he had ever bowled against.

Roach recently engaged in an Instagram Live session organized by West Indies cricket where he alluded to the 2010 Test tussle against Kallis, admitting that the South African played him quite easily throughout that series.

“Hands down, I would have to say, Jacques Kallis. He (Kallis) was definitely one of the tougher for sure. He was very technical very solid in his approach. He (Kallis) played it very easily, especially in the home series in 2010. He is probably the hardest batsman I have ever bowled to,” Kemar Roach said.

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Jacques Kallis averaged 70+ during that 2010 series against the West Indies

Kallis was the fourth-highest run-scorer during that 2010 Test series in the Caribbean. In three Tests, Kallis racked up 283 runs in six innings at an average of 70.75.

Talking about Jacques Kallis International numbers, the right-hander played a total of 166 Tests in which he racked up 13289 runs at an average of 55.37 with 58 half-centuries and 45 hundreds- just six less than the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. Kallis also picked up 292 Test wickets at an average of 32.65.

Kallis ODI numbers are equally brilliant. In 328 One-day Internationals that the South African all-rounder played between 1995-2013, he accumulated 11579 runs and 273 wickets at an average of 44.36 and 31.79 respectively.

Kemar Roach, on the other hand, has played 56 Tests and 92 ODIs for the West Indies in which he has claimed 193 and 124 wickets respectively.

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