Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is widely respected for his cricket wisdom, and does not shy away from giving his opinions. But the newly-appointed Punjab Kings coach has now given another crispy take. Despite having played with and against India legend Sachin Tendulkar, Ponting did not name him as either the most naturally talented cricketer or even the most naturally talented batter that he has seen. Instead, Ponting went for two other greats of his generation for the two categories.
"I'll say Jacques Kallis is the most talented player that I've ever seen, because of his all-round game. I'm not just talking about a talented batsman; I'm talking about a talented cricketer," said Ponting, in a panel discussion with Sky Sports.
Former South African all-rounder Kallis is widely regarded as one of, if not, the greatest all-rounders in the history of cricket. Ponting listed Kallis' tremendous statistical dominance as a reason.
Ricky Ponting on Jacques Kallis - class recognises class pic.twitter.com/Pl05hllgGr
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) October 4, 2024
"Jacques Kallis made 44-45 Test hundreds, probably 300 wickets, maybe more than that, and he'd have an unbelievable catching record as well in Test cricket, so I think he's one of the most underrated players ever that's played the game," Ponting said.
"I mean, I know he's rated; obviously he should be, but not many people talk about him as being one of the all-time greats, and in my eyes, he certainly is," Ponting added.
Over the course of his career, Kallis piled up more than 25,000 international runs and 500 international wickets across all formats. Kallis retired as the third-highest Test run-scorer of all time, and eighth on the list of ODI run-scorers. Tendulkar tops both lists.
On the other hand, Ponting named West Indies great Brian Lara as the most naturally talented batter he has ever seen.
"The most naturally talented batsman, I'd say, would be Brian Lara," Ponting added.
Ponting and Tendulkar played alongside each other during the fag end of their careers, as both won the IPL title with Mumbai Indians in 2013.
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