Kallis, who retired from the sport in 2014, was inducted almost as soon as be become eligible. The ICC mandates a minimum five-year gap after a player’s last international match.

The Cape Town native is the third most prolific batsman of all-time with 13 289 Test runs at an average of 55.37. In addition, he also took 292 wickets at 32.65.

One of the most technically correct batsmen of all-time, Kallis made an impression in limited-overs cricket, especially in One-Day Internationals. In the 50-over format, Kallis, score a total of 11 579 runs at an average of 44.36, and also took 273 wickets in 328 ODI's.

He becomes the fourth South African to receive the honour after Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, and Allan Donald.

The other inductees for 2020 are Zaheer Abbas from Pakistan and Australia's Lisa Sthalekar.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport