Lance Klusener, who still holds the best figures by a South African on Test debut – 8 for 64 against India in 1996 – later on made a name for himself as one of the feared ball-strikers in ODI cricket. Klusener’s exploits with the bat in the 1999 ODI World Cup often overshadow the fact that he had also taken 19 wickets in the tournament. Klusener, who is currently the batting coach of Zimbabwe, on the sidelines of the Legends League Cricket. talked about Hardik Pandya’s progress as an all-rounder, Dinesh Karthik’s role as a finisher, his thoughts on the ongoing India vs South Africa T20I series and the upcoming T20 World Cup and much more.
“I think the questions around Pandya are not too much on his batting. It is about his bowling. Can he consistently bowl his full quota in all forms of the game? His batting is right up there with the best in the world” he said.
“I think Stokes is a li’ll bit more complete than a guy like Pandya. But he’s learning all the time. In the last two-three years, the strides that Pandya has taken in international cricket are awesome. I don’t think he’s quite the finished product yet. The sooner he gets to that (stage) where he’s completing all his overs all the time, I think we can definitely put him in the same bracket as all great all-rounders. He is up there but not quite at the top now” he added.
