'Play sensibly': Virender Sehwag pays tribute to Rudi Koertzen, reveals late umpire used to scold him
Virender Sehwag paid tribute to late Rudi Koertzen on Twitter. | @virendersewhag |
The shocking news of South African umpire Rudi Koertzen's tragic demise left the cricket fraternity mourning on Tuesday (August 09). Koertzen was one of the respected umpires in the game and stood in a total of 331 international matches in his umpiring career. He passed away on Tuesday after a car accident near Riversdale in South Africa's Cape Town.
The 73-year-old was reportedly on his way back home after enjoying a golf weekend with some of his friends when his car met with an accident. Several former cricketers took to Twitter to pay tribute to the late umpire, who is among the only three umpires to have officiated in over 100 Test matches alongside Pakistan's Aleem Dar and West Indies'Steve Bucknor.
Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag also took to Twitter to pay homage to the late umpire and shared an interesting anecdote about him. Shewag revealed Koertzen used to enjoy watching him bat and would often scold the former India batter for playing a rash shot while he was umpiring.
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"Vale Rudi Koertzen ! Om Shanti. Condolences to his family. Had a great relation with him. Whenever I used to play a rash shot, he used to scold me saying, “Play sensibly, I want to watch your batting”. One he wanted to buy a particular brand of cricket pads for his son (cont)," Sehwag wrote in a tweet.
"And enquired about it from me. I gifted him and he was so grateful . A gentleman and a very wonderful person. Will miss you Rudi. Om Shanti," he added in another.
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Sehwag was known for his aggressive and swashbuckling batting style during his playing days and would often go after the bowlers from the word go. The former India opener played some brilliant attacking knocks for Team India throughout his career and remained a nightmare for the opposition bowlers.
Koertzen's son revealed his father went for a golf tournament with friends and was expected to return on Monday. However, they decided to stay one and play another round of golf and delayed their return. On his way back home, Koertzen's car met with an accident and he passed away.
“He went on a golf tournament with some of his friends, and they were expected to come back on Monday, but it seems they decided to play another round of golf," Rudi Koertzen Jr. told Algoa FM News.