South African allrounder Jacques Kallis is keen to upset the Indian applecart in the upcoming two-match Test series and he proposes to do that not with his batting, but with his genuine fast bowling.
"I have always seen myself as a batter and bowler. The ball is coming out sweetly, and I am confident of doing well," Kallis said.
The 29-year old from Cape Town has emerged as South Africa's key figure in the last couple of years following the retirement of seasoned players like Allan Donald and Jonty Rhodes.
And with a natural swing bowling to compliment his fine stroke making skills, Kallis will be the nucleus around whom the South African team will be built in the years to come.
Coach Ray Jennings fired the warning shot when he said Kallis would come hard at the Indians with his bowling.
"The Indian players must be careful that Kallis is ready to show up as a bowler," Jennings said.
"There is no doubt in my mind that when I look up at the bowling (strengths), Kallis is here, and the Indians are going to see a new Kallis."
Despite being acknowledged as a leading allrounder in contemporary cricket, statistics point to an unfulfilled bowling potential of this soft spoken South African.
Kallis is just 33 runs away from the 6,000-run milestone. With an average of 53.75, he is among the top batsmen. But in 80 Tests, he has picked 166 wickets at an unflattering average of 30.68.
He is somewhat an anti-thesis of Shaun Pollock, the other allrounder in the side whose batting average is as mean as his bowling.
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But that line of thinking seems to have changed, mainly due to the retirements of some talented players.
"We have lost experienced players since the World Cup (last year) and you can't buy experience in some supermarket. It takes a while to replace the vacant slots. We have some good young cricketers coming up, they have to put up their hands and come up with man of the match performances," Kallis said.
Allrounders have become an endangered species, thanks to the ever-increasing international schedule. In fact, Kallis is even now coming back from an ankle injury. So, it will be interesting to see how he balances the workload.
At 29, Kallis is at that stage of his career when a cricketer is said to reach his peak.
In the last 10 Tests, he has notched up five hundreds -- including three scores of 150 -- and as many half centuries to aggregate 1246 runs at an average of 89.00.
The last time he was in India in 2000, he had a highest score of 95 which laid the platform for the team's win in the second Test in Bangalore.
If anything, the omen is not good for Sourav Ganguly and his men.
