"I can't look," Kallis captioned his picture.

"Somebody come save me."

Above the prettily pink shop he was standing outside, a soaring sign gave a clue to what made Kallis blush: Victoria's Secret.

According to Dave Rundle, Kallis' agent, this is all the fault of the allrounder's girlfriend, Kim Rivalland.

"He's happy," Rundle said. He said Rivalland, a Pilates instructor, was partly responsible for the excellent condition Kallis is in for the Indian Premier League, where he is playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Kallis walked to the crease in Abu Dhabi on April 16 having last played on February 9. But there was no sign of rust as he clipped the Mumbai Indians' attack for 72 off 46 balls and took a difficult catch.

Having played his last T20 for South Africa in 2012 and retired from Test cricket on Christmas Day, it seems Kallis has given himself the gift of revitalisation.

"I don't know what South African cricket is thinking, but Jacques is available for the World Cup," Rundle said. "If he doesn't feel he can contribute he wouldn't make himself available."

So what, realistically, are his World Cup chances?

"I would never discount him," batting legend Barry Richards said. "I don't see why his name shouldn't stay in the frame, but there are issues to sort out, like who gets dropped for him."

South Africa are scheduled to play 15 or 16 one-day internationals before they open their World Cup campaign.

Those games will be a better barometer of Kallis' readiness than anything he does in the IPL. That means he will need to play most of them.