Lance Klusener (born 4 September 1971) is an international cricket coach and former cricketer of South Africa. He was known for his aggressive batting and fast-medium swing bowling. Klusener was one of the best all-rounders in the world during 1990s and early 2000s and one of the pioneers of power batting. He was popular for his ferocious batting, ability to hit the deck hard and ability to take wickets on crunch situations and break partnerships. He is nicknamed "Zulu" because of his fluency in the Zulu language. Since his retirement he has occasionally commentated on cricket in both Zulu and Xhosa. In September 2019, Klusener was appointed as the head coach of the Afghanistan national cricket team. Early life He attended Durban High School and he broke into the school's first team only in his final year. He also underwent military service for three years which contributed to a straightforward approach to his bowling. The manager of Natal Denis Carlstein identified the true potential in his bowling and he recommended Klusener to attend the provincial nets. He was later spotted by the West Indian fast bowler Malcolm Marshall who was then Natal's overseas player in the first-class cricket season. Klusener was drafted into Natal's first XI in 1993/94 season and was mentored by Malcolm Marshall. He spent his childhood among Zulu children on a sugar cane farm. Career Domestic career Klusener played for KwaZulu-Natal (Nashua Dolphins) in the domestic level in South Africa between 1991 and 2004. In 2004, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club signed him on a contract running until late 2008. At Wantage Road he impressed with his fired-up seam bowling and his hard-hitting in the low middle-order. Due to family bereavements back home, it was announced that his contract with the county would not be renewed at the end of the 2008 season. In late 2007, he started playing in the Indian Cricket League Twenty20 tournament in India for the Kolkata Tigers team. International career Klusener made his ODI debut on 19 January 1996 against England. He made his Test debut for South Africa against India in Calcutta during the second Test in 1996/97. At the time playing primarily as a bowler, Klusener took some fearful hammering in the first innings at the hands of Mohammad Azharuddin, who at one point hit him for five consecutive fours, but Klusener returned what would remain career best figures of eight