IND vs SA | Lance Klusener added to SA support staff for India T20s
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Cricket South Africa have named Lance Klusener as the team's assistant coach (batting) for the upcoming tour of India with the former all-rounder joining the team for the T20I leg. Meanwhile, Vincent Barnes will handle the duties of bowling coach and Justin Ontong will be the fielding coach.
The last time South Africa made a visit to India for a full series, their batting fell apart and Indian spinners ran riot to give India advantage, more often than not. Although they managed to win the ODI series, India's tour to South Africa in early 2018 settled the scores once and for all, with the visitors winning it by a margin of 5-1. Keeping that in eye, Cricket South Africa named Lance Klusener as South Africa's assistant coach (batting) but added that he will be with the team only for the T20I leg of the tour.Â
Klusener had earlier served as the head coach of the Dolphins team while he also had a stint with Zimbabwe as batting coach. Apart from that, the legendary South African was also appointed as head coach of Glasgow Giants for the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam before the tournament was cancelled two weeks before it was scheduled to start.
"Former Proteas all-rounder Lance Klusener will fill the role of assistant coach (batting) for the T20 Series only as he is currently not available for all formats. His record as one of the best all-rounders in the world, particularly in white-ball cricket, during his playing career speaks for itself and he also has extensive coaching experience both at franchise and international level," said CSA's Acting Director of Cricket Corrie van Zyl, reported Cricbuzz.
Meanwhile, South Africa have also appointed Vincent Barnes as the assistant coach (bowling) while Justin Ontong will be the assistant fielding coach during the series against India that starts from September 15 and includes three T20Is and three Tests.
"Vincent Barnes will be the assistant coach (bowling). He also has extensive coaching experience at the international level and his knowledge of playing conditions in India will make his contribution invaluable. Vincent currently also fills the role of the HP Bowling Lead for CSA. Justin Ontong will fill the role of assistant coach (fielding). He has built up a strong relationship with the players over the last two years and is an acknowledged expert in this department."
All three newly-appointed coaches will now report to the interim team director Enoch Nkwe, who was given the role following Ottis Gibson's removal under Cricket South Africa's new structure.
"Enoch is targeting a batting coach who has extensive knowledge of Indian conditions for the Test series and we will be in a position to announce this successful candidate shortly," added van Zyl, who also mentioned that the technical staff of the South African team remains the same.
"As previously announced, all the technical staff - Performance Analyst Prasanna Agoram, Strength and Conditioning Coach Greg King and physiotherapist Craig Govender - have been retained. Unfortunately, Craig has recently undergone knee surgency so a temporary replacement will travel with the team to India," concluded Van Zyl.
