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Rediff.com  » Cricket » I take pride in playing through pain: Kallis

I take pride in playing through pain: Kallis

Source: PTI
Last updated on: January 07, 2011 15:47 IST
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He has proved to be a thorn in the flesh for India with 498 runs in the series and Jacques Kallis feels that it's a matter of pride to play through pain.

- Scorecard

"It's something we pride ourselves on. Playing through pain and giving for each other. It's like a family. I know if any of the other guys had been in the same position, they would have done the same thing.I'm still thoroughly enjoying it. My body is still young and fit enough to keep going. Two or three more years," said the man who now has 40 Test centuries to his credit.

Kallis praised the lower-order batsmen for showing lot of character as they came back from 130 for six.

"At 130/6 yesterday, we had our backs up against the wall. We showed a lot of character to get into a position to win. Yesterday, we took the first big steps in the series forward," Kallis said.

On his injury, he revealed, "I have four weeks off now. I can focus on the World Cup. Very disappointing not to contribute with the ball. It was a tear that got worse and worse. It's probably a bit more than a niggle."

Jacques KallisSouth African captain Graeme Smith said, "I expected more from the wicket today. We didn't have much swing, like we did on the first three days. It was disappointing that we didn't get close today and only managed to have them three down.

"I expected the cracks to play more of a role. If you hit the rough, you got spin, but on the straight there wasn't much. When the sun comes out it becomes a little good batting wicket. We've seen that last year against England," he added.

He admitted that Proteas missed Kallis as a bowler and Paul Harris also didn't measure up.

"Having the extra seamer is a massive bonus. MS has worked the whole series like that. Having bowlers fresh is obviously nice.

"You are looking for your spinner to contribute more and more as the game goes on. Harbhajan did it for them yesterday and we maybe expected a bit more from our spinner. We need to look at the domestic set up and see what's available," he added.

He admitted that Durban defeat was difficult to digest. "Disappointed with the way we played in Durban. There were moments were we needed to fight a little harder and India were better than us in those moments in Durban. For two Tests we played really, really well and for one we were poor," Smith said.

He didn't hide his disappointment about the fact that they didn't win the series at home.

"You want to be really strong at home. We've played good cricket but we let it slip in certain patches and generally it's Durban. We don't need to fool ourselves that we are better than what we are. The next test is in ten months, with new coaching staff, and its also an opportunity to look at the domestic level and see who can take us to the next level," he concluded.

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