Former South Africa all-rounder and all-time legend of the game Jacques Kallis has backed his former teammate Hashim Amla to strike form soon. Amla off late has endured an inconsistent patch as he has struggled for runs in the last 12 months. Things began looking gloomy for the elegant batsman after a dismal tour of India, where he failed to register even a single 50+ score.
After the tour of India, Amla did hit a double-century against England at home, but his credentials away from home paint a sorry portrait about the batsman. During South Africa’s recent tour of Australia where the Proteas won 2-1, Amla had a forgettable outing with underwhelming returns. The wristy batsman was time and again dismissed by pacer Josh Hazlewood.
“He is hitting it pretty well, he just needs to push on but generally he is hitting it as well as when I was playing,” Kallis said about Amla. “He has got a few 40s in that and he just hasn’t kicked on. That happens. But he is hungry, I can tell you that. I wouldn’t be surprised if he went on and got a big hundred in the next Test match or two. It’s pretty much assured.”
Kallis went on to say that Amla could take a cue from the Proteas, who as a team bounced back after twin series defeats to India and England. “It’s nice to see us bouncing back from that,” he said. “One thing you can learn from that is that when you do go through good periods like we are going through now, don’t give it away.
“Throw your mind back to India where we were struggling. The guys certainly don’t seem complacent, they seem very hungry to keep going. They’ve learnt from that experience in terms of taking their form forward and not giving it away. They are in a very good space,” Kallis concluded.