Perhaps Jacques Kallis wouldn't have been the player he's is today in the T20 format if he hadn't faced rejections initially.
He was famously ignored for the South Africa's squad for the inaugural ICC World T20, and later the Royal Challengers Bangalore, which bought him for the IPL, became the butt of ridicule for cobbling together a 'Test' team.
For a player of his stature in Tests and ODIS, it must have felt like a slight. And the options open to him were to either take the snub lying down or fight back to prove a point.
He took the more difficult road to become arguably the most valuable player in this format. Along with this self transformation, he also played a crucial role in turning the so called Test team into a crack T20 outfit.
Nevertheless, the star-allrounder apparently hasn't got over once being considered unfit for the fastest format even today.
Even in a moment of success, like on Sunday when he picked up another Man of the Match award for a superb all-round show, he couldn't help but talk about the past. "Two years ago, there was a lot of criticism from people who said I wasn't good enough for T20. I've worked hard to succeed in this format, and that's something I take a lot of pride in," he said.
With a little more prodding, Kallis opens up on the subject. "I worked with Duncan Fletcher for sometime to turn around thing in this format," said Kallis. And while working on it, the star-allrounder discovered that all he needed to do was make minor technical and mental adjustments.
{{/usCountry}}With a little more prodding, Kallis opens up on the subject. "I worked with Duncan Fletcher for sometime to turn around thing in this format," said Kallis. And while working on it, the star-allrounder discovered that all he needed to do was make minor technical and mental adjustments.
{{/usCountry}}"Technically, you don't need to change much. In Test cricket, you get a bit more behind the ball.
“In T20, you need to give yourself a bit more room to hit." Well, it must actually be far tougher than he made it sound.
Any which way, things have fallen in place so well for him that his franchisee didn't mind splurging US$ 2,00,000 (Rs 92 lakh) to buy him out from his home team. And going by his performance in the opening tie, it seems to have further motivated the all-rounder to do well.
And the conditions being what they are here, Kallis would be the man to watch out for.