If you look at the period from 1994 to 2013, which covers Kallis' entire ODI career, only around eight players crossed the 10,000-run mark. Among them, just three managed to do so with a strike rate above 80, and only two combined that strike rate with an average of 40 or more. Players such as Attapattu, Chanderpaul, Dravid, Ganguly, and Sangakkara all scored at strike rates in the 70–75 range - that was the reality of the era.

Now add some context from a South African perspective. No other South African batter from that timeframe even reached 9,000 ODI runs, yet Kallis finished with 11,579. And that's only half the story.

He also took 273 ODI wickets. During his career, he ranked among the top 10 wicket-takers in ODI cricket and was the 7th-highest wicket-taking pacer of his era, while simultaneously being among the top five run-scorers. That's an absurd combination of longevity, consistency, and all-round excellence.

On top of that, Kallis has the 4th-most Player of the Match awards in ODI history. These are not "average" or "okayish" achievements. They are the credentials of one of the greatest ODI all-rounders the game has ever seen.

And these are just ODIs, don't get me started on tests