'A gentleman and a very wonderful person'- Virender Sehwag pays last respects to late umpire Rudi Koertzen
Rudi Koertzen passed away in a car accident aged 73.
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Former India opener Virender Sehwag has come forward to pay his last respects to late umpire Rudi Koertzen who passed away in a car accident on Tuesday, August 9. He was 73. Koertzen was one of the finest umpires in world cricket and was also an integral member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Elite Panel of Umpires.
Taking to his official Twitter handle, Sehwag paid a heartwarming tribute to the late umpire. In his first tweet, the ex-opener wrote, “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)”
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) pic.twitter.com/CSxtjGmKE9
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) August 9, 2022
In his second tweet, Sehwag posted yet another image of him and Koertzen and added, “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.”
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
Reportedly, three others apart from Koertzen were killed in the car accident. The incident took place in an area named Riverdale in South Africa. The veteran umpire was going back to Despatch in Nelson Mandela Bay from Cape Town after playing golf during the weekend.
“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 Jr. was quoted as saying on Algoa FM News.
Rudi Koertzen’s illustrious umpiring career
While Rudi Koertzen started his cricketing journey in 1981, it was only in 1992 i.e. after 11 years that he finally got a breakthrough in international cricket to officiate an India-South Africa Test match that was played at Port Elizabeth in December. Koertzen was aged 43 at that time.
He then went on to officiate in international cricket in 108 Tests, 209 One Day Internationals, and 14 T20Is. He had also stood as an umpire in one Women’s T20I. Koertzen also officiated as the third umpire in 20 Test matches, 41 ODIs, and five T20Is. Notably, he also served as a third umpire in the finals of the 2003 and 2007 World Cups.
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