Kallis more effective than Sachin, Ponting: Ganguly

NEW DELHI: Sachin Tendulkar might be the highest run-getter in cricket but he certainly is not the first choice of Sourav Ganguly when it comes to picking the most effective player. Instead, South Africa's Jacques Kallis walks away with the honour.


Ganguly said so during the commentary of the fourth Test between India and Australia, when he was discussing the highest run-getters in Test cricket with his fellow commentator Ian Chappell.


This after Ricky Ponting became the third cricketer to complete 13,000 Test runs. The other two players are India's Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. Kallis is the fourth highest scorer in Test cricket with 12260 runs.


"Kallis is a great player. He has 12000 Test runs, 250 Test wickets, 10000 one-day runs, 200 one-day wickets to be the best of the lot," Ganguly said.


"I would put it this way, he is the most effective of the lot. His batting, his bowling and he's still going on," he added.


When Chappell asked who would he pick first from the top four, Ganguly said: "Jacques Kallis straightaway then Tendulkar, then Dravid and then Ponting."


He also said Kallis has been so successful with the bat because he bats top of the order. "You cannot get to those many runs if you are batting at No. 5 or No. 6. May be at 5 but definitely not at 6. You have to bat at the top of the order. Because once you get set, you have wickets in hand to get a big score. When you bat at No. 6, you are batting with the tail."


Ganguly however said all these were class players. He also mentioned Tendulkar's records will be hard to break.