CHENNAI: On Sunday night, Marco Jansen almost took South Africa across the line against India, smashing a 39-ball 70 in the chase of 350. His knock comes after a stellar show in the Test series where India were handed a 0-2 defeat by South Africa for the first time in 25 years. For someone who was a net bowler when Virat Kohli's Test team visited South Africa in 2018, Jansen has made a meteoric rise as an all-rounder this year.
His bowling was always there, especially with the angle and height he brings to the table, but Jansen has stepped up with the bat and it seems like he is only getting better. Former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis believes that he is going to be one of the standout all-rounders for South Africa.
Asked about Jansen's rise in the lead-up to the SA20 2026 season, Kallis said, "He's had a massive year, hasn't he? Especially the last few months, he's done really well. He's always had the potential. It was just a matter of figuring his game out. He's obviously figured something out now and getting a good balance.
"He's always been magnificent with the ball. Perhaps in previous years, he didn't quite fulfil his talent with the bat. He's certainly turned that around now. He's a premium all-rounder now and I think he's going to play a massive role in the SA20. They might even be able to use him in different roles, not only down the order. He's good enough to even go up the order a few times and maybe change it up and then get him up the order every now and again. For me, he's going to be one of the standout all-rounders," said Kallis during a SA20 media round table on Tuesday.
The 50-year-old felt that this season of SA20 could be ideal preparation for Proteas players before the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. "I think it's going to play a big role. Look, I don't think it'll make the guys play any harder or anything like that, because, you know, the guys would have put the 100% effort in, in any case. But I do think it's fantastic preparation, looking forward to that World Cup. The guys will want to go into that in good form and try their best to be in good form going into that," he said.
"A few guys perhaps that are on the fringe, if they have a good performance in doing this tournament, might get a look in and get into the squads around the world. So an important part of playing (leading) into that World Cup. But like I said before, I think it's such an important tournament and people want to do well in this because of how big a tournament it is. They still, no matter what, would have wanted to do well in this tournament and make a name for themselves, especially with a tournament like IPL coming up. You have a good SA20 tournament and you can also get a good contract in IPL. So it plays a big role in many tournaments," Kallis added.
