Lance Klusener opens up on how he became a hard-hitting batsman
Lance Klusener opens up on how he became a hard-hitting batsman
Those who followed cricket in the 1990s, much before the Twenty20 (T20) came into existence, would agree to the fact that South African al-rounder Lance Klusener was arguably one of the hardest hitters of the ball and the best finishers of the game. Even before the likes of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Jos Buttler, David Miller and JP Duminy arrived on cricketing scene, there was one man who would finish matches at will, no matter what the situation was. ALSO READ: Lance Klusener: 9 interesting facts about South Africa’s 1999 World Cup Hero.
So good was Klusener at the art of finishing matches that people started believing he was perhaps naturally gifted or hitting the ball hard was something that came naturally to him. But nothing comes easy when you are sportsperson. What a cricketer does on the field is a result of his hard work and dedication of years. As the famous quote goes, “It takes 10 years to become an overnight success”. ALSO READ: In Pictures: The greatest ODI ever!
Recently, while talking to The Indian Express for an interview, Klusener himself opened up on this topic and debunked the popular conception that he was naturally talented to do what he did best. “I used to like to hit a lot of balls. I hit 1000s of balls in bowling machines. For every 100 you hit indoors in the bowling machine, you’re going to get one in a game. People don’t see that, they think ‘ah you’re just talented and that’s what you can do,’” said Klusener.
The former all-rounder further added that, “I wanted to make sure that when I see that delivery in the middle, I am attacking it with the confidence that I did it 500 times yesterday.” This statement emphasised the need for practice and patience for a sportsperson. Klusener is currently the batting coach of the Zimbabwe cricket team which is hosting India for a limited-overs series. He surely must be overjoyed with his team’s effort on Saturday, when it beat India by two runs in the first T20I.