“Will miss you Rudi”: Emotional Virender Sehwag recollects Rudi Koertzen’s advice while batting post former umpire’s death in accident

Virender Sehwag recollects Rudi Koertzen’s advice: The former Indian batter shared condolences with the family of the former South African umpire.

Former South African umpire Rudi Koertzen has passed away in a car accident in Cape Town. The news has come as a massive shock for the cricketing fraternity across the globe.

Koertzen, 73, was driving while returning to his home in Despatch from Cape Town when the unfortunate incident happened. Koertzen had visited Cape Town to participate in a Golf tournament with his friends.

“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,” Koertzen’s son Rudi Koertzen Jr. told Algoa FM News.

It was during India’s tour of South Africa three decades ago that Koertzen had made his debut as an umpire in international cricket. An 18-year old international career saw him officiating as an umpire and match referee in 128 Tests, 250 ODIs and 19 T20Is. A total of 331 matches across formats as an umpire sees Koertzen on the second position in the list of most matches as an umpire in international cricket.

Virender Sehwag recollects Rudi Koertzen’s advice while batting post former umpire dies in accident

Former India batter Virender Sehwag took to social media platform Twitter to share condolences with Koertzen’s family. A series of two tweets comprised of Sehwag sharing a couple of anecdotes involving Koertzen.

“Play sensibly, I want to watch your batting,” Sehwag revealed receiving advice from Koertzen every time he used to play a rash shot while batting. Sehwag also shared how Koertzen was grateful upon receiving batting pads as a gift for his son from Sehwag once.

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 pic.twitter.com/gdSHGOoYg8

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) August 9, 2022

Readers must note that Koertzen’s 91 out of 331 matches as an umpire had come with India being one of the two teams. Despite retiring from the highest level, Koertzen officiated in Indian Premier League 2011 which remains his last umpiring assignment in competitive cricket.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

Read More