Hashim Amla, a patch of calm on rough seas

You never forgot he was there.On tours of Asia, especially during that sublime South Africa run of away-series successes, Amla was a talisman, averaging 73.00 in a continent that vexed so many South Africa batsmen. Amla was part of the very first post-Apartheid wave that breached the walls of privilege, gaining high-quality coaching and cricketing mentorship at Durban High School at a young age, when his brother Ahmed, older only by four years, and "definitely the better sportsman" in the family, missed out.South Africa had not seen a batsman of Indian descent who consistently commanded a place in the national team before, and as any pioneer anywhere might sympathise, when Amla went to the middle he was not merely batting for his team, or for himself, but for the very idea that South Africa needs diverse representation in its national teams - a national debate that even now, for all the centuries Amla and others have piled up, and the wickets bowlers of colour have taken, has not stopped raging. In his greatest years, Amla made a fortress out of a high-risk batting style, playing away from the body with improbable deftness, flicking impossibly against the turn, though when the need arose, he defended as resolutely as any of his teammates.