Wonky-ankle Klusener finds his feet
Sharjah - Lance Klusener, the man who has been gamely carrying his wonky ankle around the sub-continent, has finally regained the form that made him such a proposition during the first half of the tour, a state of affairs that would have heartened his captain ahead of Monday's game against India.
Klusener scored 75 not out and took three for 59 in the final one-dayer in Nagpur and, on Friday night, chipped in with a smart array of slower balls and floaters to take five for forty-seven at a crucial time against Pakistan.
"It's really just a case of getting the confidence back," said Klusener after practice on Sunday. "The only way that I can bowl at the moment with the injury is to use the change of pace and mix it up. I can't bowl at full pace because of the ligaments in the ankle so it's just a case of feeling things out as I go along."
For all the purist criticism of the one-day game, there is nothing more satisfying than watching the adaptation and improvisation that limited overs cricket demands. Klusener, bowling on wickets that don't have the pace and carry that he is used to, has certainly demonstrated that he is no one-trick pony here in Sharjah, as he has brought to his bowling a thoughtfulness and application that one might not readily have associated with his game.
Being a good team man Klusener is happier talking about the team rather than talking about himself. He is quick to relate his feats to the successes of the team as a whole, a team he says is beginning to believe in itself, having notched up three wins on the trot after the inconsistencies of India.
"I definitely think that there's a little bit more momentum and belief that we can take these guys on on their own wickets," said Klusener. "It's really just a case of confidence - and the guys are gaining that now after three wins on the trot."
Opinion here in Sharjah is becoming slightly conspiratorial when it comes to the Pakistanis. While they bowled with passion and intelligence against South Africa on Friday night, with Waqar Younis and Arshad Khan both impressing, they were utterly hopeless against India the night before that.
For all of Klusener's plausible compliments about his colleagues then, one needs to bring a degree of scepticism to one's opinions about the Pakistanis, for so long the Jeckyl and Hyde team of world cricket and a team apparently intent on preserving their reputation.
India, while not stocked with scandalously gifted individuals, seem to operate more efficiently as a team and it might be India - rather than Pakistan - that South Africa have to worry about as the tournament enters its second week.
With Klusener back to form with both bat and ball, his captain will be thankful for the options that he provides, particularly now that that catch in Baroda seems to be a thing of the past. "I've been around long enough in cricket to know that it has its ups and downs," said Klusener. "I'm not really bothered by that kind of thing (the dropped catch). I don't think we should have got to that position where they needed six runs off the last over anyway."
The way that Klusener is playing now, with vigor and quiet enthusiasm, suggests that his ankle injury might have damaged his self-belief a little more than many acknowledge. Hopefully the hobbling Zulu is a thing of the past - and he might in due course be replaced by something altogether more lithe and carefree.