Former Australian cricketer and legendary captain Ricky Ponting has picked a former South African cricketer as the ‘best cricketer to ever play’ in international cricket. Ricky Ponting ignored Indian legends Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli and mentioned Jacques Kallis’ name as the ‘best cricketer to ever play.’
Jacques Kallis is considered one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket history. He had an impressive Test batting average of 55.37 and a bowling average of 32.65. Kallis was a key player for South Africa for over a decade. He could change the match outcome with either bat or ball, along with his fielding.
Jacques Kallis Was Just a Born Cricketer – Ricky Ponting
Speaking on The Howie Games podcast, Ricky Ponting was asked to pick the greatest cricketer of all time. He emphasized Kallis’ remarkable stats, stating that either batting or bowling alone would make for an outstanding career. Ponting praised his exceptional slip fielding, calling him the underrated cricketer.
“Jacques Kallis is the best cricketer that’s ever played. 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 Tests 100s,” Ponting said.
“He’s got them both. He was just a born cricketer. Unorthodox in the slips, didn’t drop anything in the slips, had a sort of funny technique, caught everything. I think he’s the best and the most underrated because he’s not talked about very much at all. Probably because of his personality and his character. He’s not out there. He’s low-key, yeah. Hasn’t done much media work. So, he’s sort of one of those forgotten-about ones a little bit,” he added.
Jacques Kallis Stands as One of the Finest All-Rounders in the History of Cricket
In Tests, Kallis scored 13,289 runs in 166 matches, including 45 centuries, and took 292 wickets with the ball. In ODIs, he amassed 11,579 runs, including 17 centuries, while taking 273 wickets in 328 games. The former all-rounder scored 666 runs in 25 T20Is at an average of 35.05 and picked up 12 wickets.
Kallis is the third-highest run scorer in Test history. He also ranks eighth among all-time ODI run-scorers. He took 338 catches in 519 matches—one of only four players to claim over 200 catches in Test cricket. Kallis played for RCB (2008-2010) and KKR (2011-2014) teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Ricky Ponting Holds the Record for Most International Runs by an Australian Batter
Ricky Ponting holds the record for the most international runs by an Australian batter, scoring 27,483 runs in 560 matches at an average of 45.95, including 71 centuries and 146 fifties. As captain, he led Australia to victory in the 2003 and 2007 ODI World Cups and won the Player of the Match award in the 2003 final.
He scored 13,378 runs in 168 Tests at an average of 51.85, with 41 centuries and 62 fifties. In ODIs, Ponting featured in 375 games, scoring 13,704 runs at an average of 42.03, including 30 centuries and 82 fifties. He played 17 T20I matches, scoring 401 runs at an average of 28.64 and a strike rate of 132.78.
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