Steve Waugh crowned GOAT Test captain, Jacques Kallis greatest all-rounder of 21st Century

Waugh, who captained the Baggy Green in 57 Tests and won 41, surpassed the likes of India’s Virat Kohli, South Africa’s Graeme Smith and his own countrymate Ricky Ponting for the title. Meanwhile, South Africa legend Jacques Kallis was chosen as the greatest all-rounder in Tests since the turn of the millennium.

Greatest of all-time Test Cricketers of 21st Century: Tendulkar, Muralitharan named GOAT Batsman and Bowler

Kallis, who amassed 13,289 runs at an impeccable average of 55.37 and picked 292 wickets, set a high benchmark for all-rounders across the globe. One of the finest players to have graced the cricket field, the Protea left behind players like Ben Stokes, Andrew Flintoff and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Former Team India batting coach Sanjay Bangar, during Star Sports show ‘Cricket Live’, revealed why he chose Waugh as the Greatest Test captain of the 21st century, “If as leaders, you have the opportunity to actually dictate the way the culture of the team is and the outcomes that the team derives, then, in that case, all of them (nominees) were in quest of excellence. So is Virat, I do not doubt that he’ll end up being probably captaining more than any other captain in the history of the game, but that’s in the future. As far as those numbers are concerned, I have opted for Steve Waugh, because winning 15 or 16 Test matches on the trot, is a phenomenal feat. Yes, everybody else has tasted that success. But for me, it has to be Steve Waugh.”

Former Indian batsman VVS Laxman who picked Jacques Kallis as the Greatest Of All Time all-rounder of the 21st century in Test Cricket said the Protea is just a fabulous player.

Laxman said on Cricket Live, “It’s a very simple take here because he (Jacques Kallis) is just a fabulous player. He was a contender in the GOAT batsman category and then, when you see, in the bowling category, he has more than 200 wickets and then in the slips, like Shane (Bond) mentioned, to take so many catches and so many match & series-winning performance. I have heard so many stories from Sunny Bhai and all those great players about Garry Sobers. So, in my generation the players who I’ve played against or who I saw – I think he (Jacques Kallis) is equal to Garry Sobers. He is just a phenomenal cricketer.”

Former New Zealand bowler Shane Bond also picked Jacques Kallis as the Greatest Of All Time all-rounder of this millennia. Bond said, “Unbelievable player! He is consistent with the bat; he is the rock of the South African batting line-up. But then to get nearly 300 test wickets, – at the same time bowling a 140KMH – fielding at second slip and getting catches, he is just one of the great cricketers of all time. No doubt! And the winner, as far as I am concerned.”

To celebrate historic feats in Test cricket, Star Sports strung together a mammoth activity to pick the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T) of the 21st century in Tests from among Batsmen, Bowlers, All-rounders and Captains.

The winners were chosen by an elite 50-member jury, which comprised of legends of the game like Sunil Gavaskar, Ian Bishop, Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson, Scott Styris, Gautam Gambhir among others, renowned sports journalists and coaches. Star Sports also provided the fans with an opportunity to vote for their G.O.A.T.s’ through a Twitter fan poll, that was held between 15th and 17th June 2021. To ensure complete transparency, the broadcaster followed a stringent category-wise selection procedure. All the statistics considered for the nominees are from or after January 1, 2000, only.

Here’s the final list of winners:

GOAT Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar

GOAT Bowler: Muttiah Muralitharan

GOAT Captain: Steve Waugh

GOAT All-rounder: Jacques Kallis.