Zeeshan Naseer, Muhammad Rohid, Rohaan Mustafa are just some of the UAE players who have made a name for themselves in the Abu Dhabi T10 cricket. Over the years, cricket’s fastest format has given numerous exciting talents to the nation who have gone on to make an impact in international cricket. The surge of local talent coming up in UAE cricket over the past few years has given a clear signal to the cricketing world to be wary of a rising cricketing power.

South Africa cricketing legend Lance Klusener believes Abu Dhabi T10 has made as much an impact on the UAE cricket as IPL has made at the grassroots level in India, especially with the rule of all teams mandated to have two UAE players in the playing XI. His own team is being led by Mustafa as the Captain, a player from UAE himself. 

“It’s a wonderful initiative that we have two UAE players on the ground at all times. It’s a standard rule in franchise cricket, but it is a great and wonderful opportunity for these guys. We see people grow up and add more value to UAE cricket, in the end. Pretty similar to what IPL has done for Indian cricket, I think T10 is slightly different, but it is still identifying talent,” Klusener said.

The former batting allrounder, who garnered a reputation for his fast-paced playing style during his cricketing days is the Head Coach of Morrisville Samp Army. Under his guidance, Samp Army have enjoyed a tremendous season, winning 7 out of their 6 games, and ensuring a spot in the top two positions in the table in the round-robin stage.

“The season has been wonderful for Morrisville Samp Army so far. Job done in terms of qualifying and job done in terms of qualifying among the top two positions. That’s good for us. Give us a slightly easy opportunity later on. We are excited about that. We just have to make sure that we have a good think and little regroup and meeting before we go into the playoffs,” the former Proteas skipper said.

Klusener, in his historic career, was known for fast-paced running between the wickets, and brought the dynamism and style with his intense batting methods to the pitch. Much like his fellow teammate Jonty Rhodes, the left-handed batter was also known for his quick work on the field, and garnered a massive fan following for his unique style of the sport. Hence, it comes as a little surprise that the 53-year-old enjoys the fast-paced nature of the T10 format, and is now into his third year as a coach in the league for Morrisville.

“The T10 fits the kind of cricket I used to play back in the day. It is nice to be involved in terms of coaching and working with some of the top players in the world. I am just excited about being here and working with the best players in the field,” he said.

But to this day, Klusener stresses more on fielding and running between the wickets, rather than focusing on scoring boundaries.

“It’s a big thing for us that we try and make sure we get into position to compete for as many catches or fielding as possible. The basics of cricket still apply even in T10. The running between the wickets, ones and twos, they all add up and we know that in T10 cricket, 90 percent of the game comes down to last overs, so it plays a huge part. In our team talks, we do not talk about boundaries, but we talk about we take ones and twos and we add them as much as possible,” he opened up on his coaching philosophy.

T10 has gone global over the past two years with editions happening across Zimbabwe, USA, and Abu Dhabi. The format will also take over Sri Lanka in the next month with the inaugural season of Lanka T10 between December 11th to December 18th in Pallekele. Does the format have a space in South Africa as well?

“I think T10 is a format that can easily grow. There is not much space in the world calendar at the moment. but it would be nice to see it go to South Africa, after it has already been to Zimbabwe,” Klusener said.

Among cricket fans, Klusener is always remembered for one of the most memorable cricket matches in history – the 1999 World Cup Semifinal against Australia. The game went right down to the last ball, thanks to a tremendous power hitting from the then captain, Klusener, who scored an unbeaten 31 off 16 balls and almost took his side home. The match ended in a draw, allowing Australia to qualify on Net Run Rate.

Even after over two decades later, the match is still remembered fondly among cricket fans and Klusener himself, as well.

“I remember that match – what a wonderful game to be part of. You cannot always control the end of the result. It would have been nice to get home. There were a lot of ‘ifs and buts’ in that game. But what a memorable game and it is a match that many people still talk about around the world. Even though we did not get the result, it was still a great game to be a part of,” he signed off.