A fitting finale awaits Jacques Kallis
The 38-year-old all-rounder will play his last Test for South Africa against India in Durban on Boxing Day.
In what has been a season of retirements, the latest one to indulge is the South African veteran Jacques Kallis. Being arguably one of the best all-rounders to have played the game, Kallis' decision has perhaps come due to his dipping form (batting average of 17 on 2013) in Tests.  (Jacques Kallis to retire from Tests after India series)
Having made his debut as a young 20-year-old in 1995, there is very little in the sport of cricket that Kallis hasn't achieved.
Kallis has been a regular and pivotal feature of the South African side that has been on a roller coaster ride in the last decade and a half. Wading through painful times of being part of a side that was branded as 'chokers' on multiple occasions to being a veteran in the world's best Test side, Kallis has seen it all on national duty. (Preview: Durban Test draws curtains on Kallis' illustrious career)
In his 18-year-long journey, Kallis has also been the yardstick for judging an all-rounder. The ability to score runs in heaps and then turn out to be amongst the wickets is no mean feat. Couple that with exceptional consistency and you have a phenomenal player. (India will lash out against South Africa, says Cheteshwar Pujara)
His decision to quit the longest format of the game in order to stay fit for the ICC World Cup 2015 may baffle a few. But having reached the pinnacle with the national side in Test cricket, it is only natural that he would want one last shot at the trophy that has eluded him and his team for time immemorial.
With 13,174 runs in 165 Tests, Kallis sits at the fourth position in top run-getters in Tests behind legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid. Kallis may not be in the best of forms in Tests at the moment but the finale at Durban gives him an opportunity to end on a high as far as his numbers are concerned.
With just 115 runs in the two innings at Kingsmead, Kallis can finish third, ahead of Dravid and can even go one step further and displace Ponting, if he can manage 205 runs. As for his bowling, he has 292 wickets to his name and would love to weave a match-winning spell en route joining the 300-wicket club. He is also only one away from 200 catches in Tests.
Kallis' farewell Test will seldom be about customised toss coins and overflowing tributes and yet will be the most fitting send off that the giant of the game can get.