On hearing the Jacques Kallis' sudden retirement news, his school principal Keith Richardson has sent him a good-luck message to him and wished him to score a century in his farewell Test.
"Owing to my prior commitment in the family, I won't be going to Durban to watch his last Test match but Kallis has texted me a message (in reply to my SMS) saying that every effort will be made by him to make this Test memorable", Keith Richardson, the head-master at Wynberg Boys’ High in Cape Town, where Kallis studied, said over telephone.
"The cricket world is fortunate to have experienced the careers of two outstanding cricketers (Kalllis and Tendulkar) over the last two decades. Comparisons between the two are inevitable - but the true worth of comparing these two wonderful cricketers is to reveal just how really gifted they both are", he said.
"Older by one year, Sachin Tendulkar has played in 35 more Tests than Jacques Kallis and has amassed over 2700 more runs. Amazing. The durability and consistency of this brilliant cricketer is astounding. Cricket lovers around the world will be in for a treat if anyone ever scores more than his nearly 16,000 runs", he says about Tendulkar.
"But there are two of Kallis’ achievements that Tendulkar could not beat. The first is that Kallis has 292 Test wickets and secondly that he has held about 200 catches. I predict that it will take a superhuman all-rounder to match Kallis’ remarkable achievements in the future. If his wickets and catches are taken into account, then we are witnessing one of the most marvellous cricketers to have graced the cricket fields of the world.",he added before the commencement of the Test in Durban on Thursday.
"I have no idea about his post Test- retirement plan, though he is willing to play the World Cup. No wonder so many people visit the school where Kallis made his name – Wynberg Boys’ High in Cape Town. When they do visit, they always have their picture taken next to the rock which bears his name on the bank above his field - the Jacques Kallis Oval", he signed off.