Lance Klusener

Nicknamed Zulu for his command over the native African language, Lance Klusener will be remembered for several reasons. A hard hitter, he was the perfect finisher batting down the order and could bowl nagging medium pace. He was also the man who was at the helm of things when South Africa crashed out in tragic fashion during the 1999 and the 2003 World Cups.

An accomplished batsman, Klusener made a name for himself thanks to his exploits in the shorter forms of the game. His ability to clear the ropes with nonchalant ease and his never say die attitude towards batting helped South Africa establish themselves as one of the super-powers of the game in the late 90's.

A fiery pace bowler, Klusener was the ideal foil to the deadly duo of Donald and Pollock. His bowling skills were showcased in his debut Test at Kolkata where he dazzled the Indians with terrific figures of 8/64. As aggressive with the ball as he was with the bat, his ability to take his side home even in the most hopeless of causes was the stuff of folklore. His best moment was obviously the 1999 WC where his super-hero acts nearly took South Africa to their first ever finals. It was a small consolation that he won the Man of the Tournament award.

Klusener is one of the few players who had a better ODI batting average as compared to Tests. Injury forced Klusener to cut down on his pace and he developed several other skills to bamboozle the batsmen. The off-cutter was one such weapon used to unsettle the batsmen. Klusener's form began to fade on the tours to West Indies (2000-01) and Australia (2001-02). His prolonged poor form cost him his place in the side for some time but managed to get back into reckoning for the 2003 WC. A poor WC resulted in his omission from the touring squad to England subsequently.

It did not help that new South African skipper Graeme Smith termed him as a disruptive force to the younger players of the squad. Klusener did make a comeback of sorts for the ODI series against West Indies in 2003-04 and earned a Test comeback for the Sri Lankan tour in 2004. It did not last too long though and Klusener bid good-bye to international cricket after he linked up with his African mates under Kepler Wessels at Northamptonshire.

Klusener was one of the high profile signings in the ICL for the 2007 season and enjoyed reasonable success. He quit the ICL in 2009 to embark on a coaching career. Klusener was tipped as the bowling coach of Bangladesh, which he subsequently declined. He has now been appointed as the coach of South African domestic side, Dolphins.

Klusener was named as the Wisden Cricketer of the year in 2000.

By Pradeep Krishnamurthy