[4] Klusener grew up on a sugarcane farm north of Empangeni, attending Kwambonambi primary school with Zulu children.
The manager of Natal Denis Carlstein identified the 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.
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.
[9] On his test debut he picked 8 wicket haul in a flat pitch in Kolkata, and he led from the front especially after Allan Donald had broken down.
[13] Klusener is remembered for his contributions in One Day Internationals, in which he was a hard hitting batsman and was voted as Man of the Tournament during the 1999 World Cup.
[14] His international career tapered off after this, mainly due to persistent ankle injuries, as well as a public dispute with the then South African captain Graeme Smith, who at a breakfast meeting shortly after his appointment to the captaincy, in which he described Klusener as a "disruptive force" to the younger players within the South African national cricket team.
[18] In the 1999 Cricket World Cup, South Africa had progressed to the semi-finals, and Klusener until then had an excellent tournament, taking 17 wickets and scoring 250 runs (including two half centuries) in 8 matches and building a reputation as a hard-hitting batsman in tight situations.
[20] His streak was finally ended by Gavin Larsen in the Super Six stage match against New Zealand when he was dismissed for the first time in the tournament after scoring just four runs.
Due to his all-round performances with the bat and ball during the World Cup, he topped the ICC rankings for allrounders with a rating of 521 points.
He was criticized for his knock in a losing cause against Zimbabwe taking 58 balls to score 52 and when South Africa were bowled out for 185, he was stranded in the crease without being dismissed.
[33] His opposite number Neil Johnson who also took 1999 World Cup on storm had engineered Zimbabwe's win of the tournament against South Africa with his all-round display scoring 76 runs and taking 3/27.
[36][37] Waugh eventually scored a match-winning century remaining unbeaten on 120, as Australia won in the last over of the contest with two balls to spare.
[39] However, Donald at the other end, keeping his eyes on the ball and hoping to avoid another mix-up like in the last delivery, did not see Klusener sprinting down the pitch and did not hear the call to run, and Klusener was almost at the bowler's end by the time Donald (who had also dropped his bat) began running.
[44][45] However, a tie meant that Australia progressed to the final since they had beaten South Africa in the group stages of the tournament.
[54][55] Later, United Cricket Board of South Africa and Klusener both swept the legal battle under the carpet and ended their differences.
[59] Klusener had finally turned down the offer to take over as Bangladesh's bowling coach, replacing Sri Lanka's Champaka Ramanayake.
[66] In 2018, he was appointed as the head coach of Rajshahi Kings in the Bangladesh Premier League replacing Daniel Vettori.
[71][72] In July 2019, Klusener was appointed as the head coach of the Glasgow Giants for the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament.
[73] In September 2019, Klusener was appointed as the head coach of the Afghanistan national cricket team replacing Phil Simmons.
[77] In January 2022, Klusener was appointed as the head coach of the Khulna Tigers in the Bangladesh Premier League[78] In 2022, it was reported that he initially applied for the role of head coach of Sri Lankan men's cricket team but after being shortlisted by Sri Lanka Cricket as one of the candidates, he pulled out at the eleventh hour citing personal reasons.