“Get your arm high... Give the ball more air, you won’t get wickets by bowling darts,” Lance Klusener advises Delhi left-arm spinner Manan Sharma while giving a near-perfect demonstration for the same. Later on, during a chat under a tree, which barely provided shelter from the scorching sunlight at the practice area of the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, he gives a detailed explanation about his animated words. But that 7-8 minute session with the Delhi spinners before that gave a fair idea about what to expect from Klusener in a conversation about cricket. For a man who had a playing style way ahead of his time, Klusener is incredibly traditional and straightforward.
“Spinners should think about wickets and not containment.” “Your experience players need to stand up for you to win overseas.” Simple. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then suddenly, keeping the traditional base intact, just like his heaves over mid-wicket during slog overs, he sweeps you off your feet. “Prithvi Shaw won’t be my opener in Australia,” Klusener, the consultant of Delhi for Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali trophies, tells Wah Cricket in an exclusive interview.
It was but natural that the conversation quickly shifted to an 18-year-old, who hit a 99-ball century, becoming the youngest Indian to do so on Test debut and returned with the Man of the Match award in India’s innings and a 272-run victory over West Indies at Rajkot.
“Have been reading quite a lot about him (Prithvi) of late,” Klusener pauses as if to sound more assertive and continues, “I certainly wouldn’t like to start with him in Australia. India need someone with a bit more experience in those conditions. You should definitely have him in the squad that automatically puts a lot of pressure on your senior guys. They would know there’s someone in the change room who might take their place.”
Shaw has had a dream beginning to his international career, impressing one and all with his powerful square cuts, wristy flicks and above all his carefree attitude that has invariably drawn comparisons with Virender Sehwag. His 134-run knock prompted a host former and current Indian cricketers including Indian captain Kohli to hail him as the next big thing for India in Test cricket. But Klusener believes that 18-year-old still has a long way to go.
“Indians have a tendency to flash outside off stump. They get away on home conditions as those fly to third man or over backward point but in conditions offering bounce and carry that may end up in the slips,” Klusener stated citing Shaw’s natural instinct to go after anything pitched outside off.
To be fair to Shaw, he was fairly successful with that same attacking technique in England, scoring a couple of List A hundreds for India A against England Lions, backing that up with another century against West Indies A in a four-day game in the same tour. He in fact, emerged as the highest scorer for India A with 603 runs at an average of 60.3
The former South African all-rounder, however, suggested playing Shaw in the middle order. “I’d rather ease him into international cricket. With all due respect to West Indies, maybe sneak him against them for a couple games, they are obviously not of the same quality anymore. And after that, if you really think he is that good, play him at No.6 in Australia. I know he’s an opener but playing him in the middle order might not be a bad option,” Klusener said.
When asked who should open for India in Australia if not Shaw, Klusener was quick to respond with Shikhar Dhawan’s name.
“Massive fan of Dhawan, watched him develop to the player that he is now. He has toured Australia before; he brings in that toughness along with the experience needed to succeed in those conditions.”
When reminded about his drought of runs in overseas conditions in red-ball cricket, Klusener warns India of not wasting such a talent on the basis of a few bad tours. “We should be wary of throwing away this amount of talent and experience. He was superb in the Asia Cup, that’s a great sign. It’s only a matter of time he translates that into Test cricket. You need to back these guys when touring a place like Australia,” Klusener signed off.