The Forgotten 'ZULU' cricketer

Lance Klusener

The South African cricketer, Lance Klusener who was famously known as 'ZULU' among cricket fans is one of the most skilled players to have ever played the game. Having spent his childhood among the Zulu children in a sugarcane farm, Klusener made his first-class debut for Dolphins at the age of 20 and soon broke into the South African side.

When we talk about the best all rounders of modern era, names like Jacques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff and Dwayne Bravo are the first to come to our minds. But if we have a closer look at Klusener's record we will know his impact on South African team was much more than any other player. His performances in 1999 ICC World Cup were so remarkable that the whole tournament is known as 'The Klusener World Cup'.

Zulu made his test debut against India at Calcutta in 1996 as a frontline bowler. In the first innings, he took some serious beating from Mohammad Azharuddin, who at one point hit him for five consecutive fours. At that time, people started questioning his inclusion but he made an incredible comeback in the second innings by picking up 8 wickets. He returned with his career best figures of 8/64. This announced his arrival at the international stage. He was a regular part of the team for the next two years until a serious ankle injury forced him to take a break. This was the time when Klusener developed his other skills. He dropped his pace and worked on his batting.

There have been many cases when a player let his team down but one of the most unique and sad incident happened during the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup when a team let a player down and the player was none other than our very own ZULU.

World Cup still remains the best yet most heartbreaking memory for the South African all-rounder. Klusener was at the peak of his career and single-handedly took South Africa to the semi-finals of the tournament. On the way to the semis he scored 250 runs and picked up 17 wickets from 8 matches. South Africa's dependancy on him was visible by the fact that he won 4 man-of-the-match awards in the tournament. However, what happened in the next few days is one of the most heart-breaking stories in world cricket of all times.

THE TURNING POINT:

South Africa had already qualified for the semis after beating Pakistan and New Zeland in their first two games of the super 6 round and were ready to face Australia in the last match. Unlike Proteas, Aussies had a mixed campaign and were in a must win situation.

Klusener's scintillating knock of 36 from 21 balls helped them reach a decent total of 271. At 3-48, Proteas were in full control of the game. Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh were at crease and at 152-3 when this happened:

The bowler on this occasion being none other than Lance Klusener. Steve was reportedly quoted as saying, 'You just dropped the cup,son'. Australia won the match by 5-wickets with 2-balls remaining to set up a rematch in the semis just a few days later.

THE GREAT CHOKE:

The time when Batman failed Gotham. After doing a great job of restricting the Aussies for a total of 213 Proteas lost their way finding themselves at 4-61. Kallis and Johnty Rhodes steadied the innings. Klusener arrived on the fall of sixth wicket and at the score of 175. Klusener's fine hitting took South Africa really close with just 9 runs needed of the last over and only 1-wicket in hand. Two boundries in next three deliveries left them with just one nedeed of 3 balls. What followed after that cannot be expressed in words.

Hearts were broken, dreams were shattered and scars were left. Neither South Africa nor Klusener were able to reach the same heights again.

Australia later won the tournament by beating Pakistan in the finals.

THE RISE AND FALL:

Klusener was dismissed only once in the whole tournament and averaged 124 with the bat which is still a world record. His bowling average of 20 was also one of the best in the tournament. He won the player of the tournament award followed by the Wisden cricketer of the year award in 2000. His performances with the bat also made him the number one batsman in ICC ODI rankings.

However, the years followed saw a decline in his form which forced the selectors to drop him from the side. He was recalled again for the 2003 world Cup where he scored with an average of 91 but could not match the levels of the previous edition. His return to international cricket was a short one after the newly appointed captain Greame Smith described him as a 'disruptive force' for younger players within the team.

He managed 1906 runs in 49 test matches with a high score of 174 and grabbed 80 wickets with his best of 8/64. In ODIs, he scored 3576 runs in 171 matches at an average of 41.1 with a high score of 103 and also picked up 193 wickets with the best of 6/49. His ability can be judged by the fact that his batting average was better than that of players like Brian Lara, Sourav Ganguly and Inzamam-ul-Haq who are considered to be the best batsmen to have ever played the game.

Klusener is never considered among the greatest players but what he did was no mean feat. His career might have been complelety different, had Gibbs taken that catch. Had Donald gone for that run. Do players like him come every day? Or do they come at all?

It takes more than talent and hard work to achieve what he did and Klusener had that something more.