"When I look at MS Dhoni, I see myself" - Lance Klusener
Former South African all-rounder Lance Klusener said he sees himself in MS Dhoni as the Indian star performed a similar role during his international career. Klusener is widely regarded as one of the most exciting players and the best finisher of his era.
The 49-year-old is currently the head coach of the Afghanistan cricket team. In a recent interview with Malayala Manorama, Lance Klusener discussed MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, saying that Dhoni perfected the art of finishing games.
"Dhoni perfected the art of taking the games deep and finishing it off in the company of tail-enders. When I look at him, I see myself! Like me, Dhoni is an aggressive batsman who looks to dominate the bowlers right from the word go and accelerate the scoring rate," Klusener said.
While talking about Virat Kohli, the former all-rounder opined that building an innings and playing an anchor role is a much tougher task in international cricket.
"Players like Kohli play an anchor role by batting through most of the innings. Compared to Kohli, our job was easier. Batting at the top-order and stitching the innings together by playing against quality bowling is tough. That's why I think Kohli belongs to a different class," Lance Klusener added.
"Mumbai Indians had invited me to be a part of their coaching staff"- Lance Klusener
Lance Klusener never played T20I for South Africa. But there is no doubt he would have been more than a handy player in the shortest format, given his batting and bowling prowess. Klusener said that not being around in the IPL and T20 era is one of the biggest regrets of his life, besides his failure at the World Cup.
"My failure at the World Cup will remain the biggest regret of my life. The IPL comes second. In fact, Mumbai Indians had invited me to be a part of their coaching staff three years ago, but I was not in a position to accept that offer," the South African said.
Widely considered as one of the best all-rounders of his era, Lance Klusener played 49 Tests and 171 ODIs for South Africa over the course of his international career. However, he is notoriously remembered for not being able to take South Africa over the line in the 1999 World Cup semi-final match against Australia, which ended in a tie.