Legendary South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis feels that conditions in the sub-continent is “not conducive” for producing seam bowling all-rounders, something that the Indian cricket team has lacked for some years now.
Post Kapil Dev’s retirement, only Irfan Pathan showed glimpses of early promise in both departments of the game before fading away due to injuries and Mahendra Singh Dhoni has always lamented about not having that balance in the side which a genuine all-rounder provides.
“It is difficult to produce seam bowling all-rounders in Indian conditions. I have toured India enough to have an idea about the conditions over there. The pitches there are certainly not seamer-friendly. The heat and humidity is an impediment towards producing a cricketer who can focus equally on both skill sets,” Kallis, one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of the game, told PTI during an interaction.
“For an all-rounder, it is very important to know one’s body and manage himself accordingly. In sub-continental conditions, while putting equal effort on both aspects of the game day in and day out can take a toll on one’s body. Then the cricketer has to decide as to which area — batting or bowling is more important to him,” said the man, who has scored 13,289 runs with 45 hundreds in 166 Tests apart from taking 292 wickets.
