[BrianLara7]

Originally Posted by Navo
^ Brianlara7, the question is, would Kallis have gotten into the South African team on his bowling alone? Looking back on 15+ years of international cricket, where he has bowled admirably as 4th or 5th change, his wicket tally looks impressive - but he's also bowled in 260 innings to get them. So he's been good, very good on occasion, and most importantly, he has had a long shelf life. But the point being made is whether a player would be able to make it into his team as either a bowler or as a batsman and I'm not sure if Kallis would always make it into the team purely as a bowler, given the stiff competition in South Africa. His skills are clearly not even balanced, especially considering his gargantuan batting average. However, obviously it's his overwhelming presence as a batsman and the total package he brings as a player, that makes him invaluable.

It seems like Kallis' massive average (highest of modern era) has created the perception of him just being a batsman who can bowl a bit. But then again Sobers was clearly a better batsman than bowler, all allrounders have their specialty and Kallis is clearly a batting allrounder. He can still hold his own as a bowler specially when you have so called top bowlers around the world who average same as him (Zaheer, Gul etc)