Dubai: Jacques Kallis retired in 12th position in the ICC rankings for Test batsmen after he inspired South Africa to a 10-wicket victory over India in the second and final Test in Durban Monday.
Kallis scored a fine 115, his 45th century, which helped South Africa secure a decisive 166-run first innings lead. During his innings, Kallis also became the third highest run scorer in the history of the game after Sachin Tendulkar (15,921) and Ricky Ponting (13,378), finishing with 13,289 runs -- ahead of Rahul Dravid (13,288).
For becoming only the 31st batsman and fourth from South Africa to score a century in his final Test, Kallis was rewarded with a jump of three places, which meant he signed off his magnificent career in 12th spot.
Kallis first topped the batting chart after his 85th Test in January 2005 when he scored 149 and 66 against England in the third Test at Newlands. Overall, he spent 68 Tests and 592 days as the top-ranked batsman.
Kallis, who has also bagged 292 Test wickets, remained wicketless in the Durban Test. As such, he finished in 30th spot after slipping two places. He achieved his career-best ranking of sixth when he recorded match figures of 7/110 against Sri Lanka at Centurion in November 2002.
In the ICC Test all-rounders rankings, Kallis finished in third position after having first topped the chart in his 36th Test in March 2000 following match figures of 2/28 and a score of 95 in South Africa's innings and a 71-run victory over India in Bangalore.
Overall, Kallis remained the top-ranked Test all-rounder for a record 493 matches which equates to 4,028 days.
