I'm a big MS Dhoni fan: Lance Klusener

Former South African all-rounder Lance Klusener is currently coaching the TNPL (Tamil Nadu Premier League) franchise Lyca Kovai Kings, that has won 3 out of their 4 encounters thus far. Their only loss came in a super over against Ruby Kanchi Warriors.

Klusener was recently appointed as the batting coach of the Zimbabwe team as he already has the experience of coaching the South African domestic side Dolphins for a brief period. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, he spoke about TNPL, coaching, the 1999 World Cup semi-finals, and his favourite batsman.

About his coaching stint with the TNPL side, Klausner said that it is an opportunity for him as well in his career which he is thoroughly enjoying. “I thought it was a good opportunity for myself and my career, but I also thought that it was a good chance to work with the youngsters, promising youngsters, which I really enjoy. It’s just a whole combination of factors and yeah, I really like coming to India as well,” said the left-handed all-rounder.

He also believes that there are a lot of talented cricketers in the TNPL who have caught the eye of the selectors and the IPL teams. When asked about his advice for a young player, who has got the talent but is finding it hard to find form, he said, “I think we should be careful with that player and expect him not to change too much. We got a guy in our team who has been run-out, got out to a good catch and didn’t have much opportunity in another game. You need to be careful that you don’t get caught up by changing too much.”

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“Sometimes, you are playing well, but then you won’t be having the fortune that is needed . So it’s important to make sure that you analyze it correctly and sometimes, you have to be patient rather than making changes just for sake of making a change,” he added.

He said that coaching an international team and a franchise based team is entirely different as there is enormous pressure of having a whole nation depending on a team when it comes to the International cricket whereas, in the franchise-based team, it will be a combination of players from different regions. “At the end of the day, I want the players to bond well and gel well together,” said the former Zimbabwe coach.

Favorite moment in his career:

When asked about his favourite moment as a cricketer, he pointed out his debut against and the 1999 World Cup performance. He bagged 8 wickets for 64 runs in his debut against India at Calcutta and in the 1999 World Cup, he was awarded the Player of the tournament.

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The famous semi-final match 1999 World Cup saw Allan Donald failing to complete the single and South Africa was knocked out of the tournament. “I felt I could have waited for a ball or two before going for a boundary, but there was an opportunity for a single. You can’t blame it on anyone. Maybe if I had got a chance to finish it off some other day, I would have done it with ease,” said the 45-year-old.

Batting/Bowling all-rounder?:

He also said that he considers himself as an all-rounder who can equally do well with both bat and ball. “If you want me to pick just one of these, I would pick whichever one that is doing well on that particular day (laughs),” said Klusener.

When queried who among the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mitchell Starc in the current generation is his favorite cricketer. For which he said, “Yeah, Kohli, AB, you absolutely nailed it right there. And yeah, I am a big MS Dhoni fan as well. Performing consistently for over 10 years is no joke And moreover, he is doing the same job (finishing) which I used to do for my team back then,” he concluded.