This is another article in our series of articles where we will compare the stats of some of the best batters and the ones which we leave out here, we will cover those batters very soon. In this article we will look at Ricky Ponting vs Jacques Kallis and both of them were the best batters of their teams but only one was as good of a fast bowler and has taken lots of wickets in both test and ODI cricket.
Before we talk about the stats Comparison between these 2 best of their nations, I want to say that it has been my greatest pleasure of doing these articles and celebrating these once in a lifetime players based on their skills and these will not be the end.
So, let’s look at the stats Comparison between Ricky Ponting vs Jacques Kallis
Ricky Ponting
Firstly we will talk about Ricky Ponting and we have already talked about him in a previous article but words will be less to talk about the greatness of this man and the contribution he has had to the sport. Ricky Ponting was an aggressive minded player and he did not mind bending the rules a few times. I loved watching him bat.
Also Read | Best innings of Ricky Ponting
Test Cricket
Ricky Ponting is one of the all time greats when it comes to test cricket as he has scored one if the most runs in test cricket. He has played 168 Test Matches and in those he has scored 13378 test runs and he has made these at an average of 51.85. He has also made 41 Test hundreds which is also one of the most of all time. Ricky Ponting made sure that Australia were the number 1 test team for a number of years. He had a highest test score of 257.
ODI Cricket
In ODI Cricket he was a giant of the game as he was the best batter in the Australian team, he was also the captain for more than a decade and he made sure that Australia were invincible for majority of his time as skipper. He played 375 ODIs for Australia and he made a Total of 13704 runs at an average of 42.03. He has made 30 Hundreds in ODIs in his career and he gas a highest score of 164 in ODIs.
Also Read | James Anderson vs Glenn McGrath – Stats Comparison as Fast Bowler
Jacques Kallis
In my opinion the most complete cricketer to have ever played the sport and at the level that he did and for so many years. Jacques Kallis was the greatest all rounder to have ever played the fane and one of the greatest batters as well which is remarkable. He could do everything he wanted and he was a 3 in one player and there was no one like him in world cricket.
Test Cricket
In Test Cricket Jacques Kallis played 166 Test Matches which is 2 less than Ricky Ponting and he scored 13289 runs in test cricket at an average of 55.37 which is incredible. He also made 45 Test hundreds which is the second most of all time after Sachin Tendulkar. He had a highest score of 224 in Test cricket. And as a bowler he took 292 Test wickets so that makes him the first player in history to score more than 13009 test runs and take more than 290 test wickets.
ODI Cricket
The story was the same in ODI Cricket as well as Jacques Kallis played 328 ODIs for South Africa and in those he scored 11579 runs at an average of 44.36. He also made 17 Hundreds in ODI Cricket which takes him to 62 international hundreds. Jacques Kallis had a highest score of 139 in ODIs. As a bowler he took 273 wickets in ODIs which is among the highest for South Africa cricket. He was an institution in cricket and now there are a few all rounders who want to be like him.
Also Read | Mark Boucher vs Adam Gilchrist – Stats Comparison as Wicket Keeper and Batter
Stats Comparison
If we compare the stats as a bowler then there is no comparison because Jacques Kallis is miles ahead with almost 600 international wickets for South Africa. As a batter in test cricket it is too close to call as both have equal number of runs but Kallis has 4 more hundreds. In ODIs, Ricky Ponting has 2000 runs more than Kallis but Kallis has a better average but Ricky Ponting has 13 more ODI hundreds. So, in ODI Cricket Ricky Ponting has the slight edge.
Also Read: Sachin Tendulkar vs Ricky Ponting - Stats Comparison as Batter
