Kallis backs Australia stand-in to replicate Graeme Smith

SteveSmith

The 25-year-old Australian has been elevated to skipper for the remainder of his country's four-match Test series with India due to a hamstring injury sustained by Michael Clarke in the opening contest.

Clarke ominously admitted afterwards that he may never play again due to the issue, suggesting Steve Smith could be set for the role long-term.

Graeme Smith was handed the reins as South Africa captain at the tender age of 22, but took his country to the top of the ICC rankings, as well as winning more Tests than any other captain in history.

Kallis sees resemblances between the two beyond their shared name, and believes Australia may have found their leader for years to come.

"I can only speak from an outsider's point of view that Steve looks like a guy that is well respected," Kallis told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I don't know him in that team environment well enough to comment too much on that but certainly from Graeme's point of view he was very well respected within the team and almost from the day he walked in he had those leadership qualities.

"So we kind of knew he was going to get groomed for that and certainly as senior players we backed him 100 per cent.

"And to be fair he relied a lot on the senior players early on when he was making decisions and rightly so and then obviously learned as he went along.

"Being 22 years old, sure he made a lot of mistakes when he was a youngster but I think the big thing is he learnt from that and it made him into the captain that he was and in my eyes one of the better captains we've ever had.

"Graeme certainly turned out to be very successful and I don't think Steve will be too far behind that."

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