Ton of Tests for peerless Hash

Hashim Amla plays his 100th Test for South Africa today after his debut almost 13 years ago at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in India. What a fine achievement for one of Africa’s greatest cricketers.

Considering all the pessimism that Amla had to initially endure about his technique – or lack thereof especially in relation to his back lift – it is an amazing achievement.

That is notwithstanding the abuse he’s encountered over the years. Amla has been labelled a “terrorist” by none other than former Australian Test player and commentator Dean Jones and most recently by an ignorant spectator on South Africa’s tour to Australia last year because of his ample beard.

Composure and grace is how Amla has met each Islamaphobic slur.

Amla had to work hard to cement his place in the Proteas side, but after scoring an unbeaten 176 against New Zealand at the Wanderers, he has never looked back.

He backed up that ton with another in the following Test, again sharing a vital partnership with Jacques Kallis after the early dismissals of the openers. Since then he has scored a further 22 Test centuries, including three double hundreds and an historic 311, not out, the highest by a South African, at The Oval.

Along with Kallis and AB de Villiers, Amla forged a formidable triumvirate whose run output was one of the cornerstones of South Africa’s successes from 2007 to 2012, when the Proteas were the best Test side in the world. Together with Graeme Smith, he also set up a number of matchwinning partnerships for South Africa.

Amla’s fantastic on-field performances have ensured his status as one of South Africa’s most popular sport personalities across codes.

His trademark beard that was once a form of ridicule is now also a legacy that is imitated in his honour at cricket grounds across the country by “The Amla Army.” That is the divide that Hashim Amla crosses without even trying.

Amla may be approaching the twilight of his Test career and the on-pitch struggles have become more prominent in recent times. But a player of his class will no doubt rise to the occasion in a match of such prominence to once again silently remind everyone of his stature in the game.