South Africa’s wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klassen has announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect. He has probably taken this decision to shift his focus completely on the limited-overs cricket and cash-rich T20 leagues. He has played four Test matches for South Africa in a short span of four years with the most recent coming against West Indies last summer.
Heinrich Klassen becomes the second senior player from South Africa after Dean Elgar to announce Test retirement this year. He was not a part of the recently concluded two-match Test series against India and was replaced by Kyle Verreynne. However, the South Africa Test coach mentioned that Klassen was in the scheme of things for the future.
South Africa Test coach Shukri Conrad mentioned in February last year that he preferred Heinrich Klaasen over Kyle Verreynne because according to him, Klaasen was a ‘better batter’. Heinrich Klaasen could manage only 56 runs in four innings against West Indies, with a top-score of just 20 while Verreynne finished as the third-highest run-getter in the last season’s first-class competition.
After the West Indies series, Shukri Conrad opted for Kyle Verreynne against India but said that Heinrich Klassen is still in the scheme of things and will play in the future series against Bangladesh and West Indies. Now, Klassen has himself announced his retirement which means he won’t be featuring in those series. He had a short Test career of Four Tests where he scored just 104 runs without any fifty-plus scores.
Heinrich Klassen Gives No Reason For His Test Retirement
He provided no reason for his retirement in Test cricket but one can assume that with his commitments in the IPL, Hundred, MLC and SA20, he is likely pursuing T20 leagues in this phase of his career. Klassen will play for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2024 and he will be representing Durban Super Giants in the SA20 which is scheduled to commence on January 10.
“After a few sleepless nights wondering if I am making the right decision, I have decided to retire from red-ball cricket. It’s a difficult decision that I have made because it is by far my favourite format of the game,” he said in a statement. “The battles that I faced on and off the field have made me the cricketer I am today. It has been a great journey and I am glad I could have represented my country. My baggy Test cap is the most precious cap I have ever been handed.”
South African players are moving away from the longer format and have been focusing on lucrative t20 leagues. Even the board is favouring this shift in the mindset of players as they have announced an entirely new squad to face New Zealand in a two-match Test series next month. The main players will be playing in the SA20 league and the international window for South Africa will suffer, especially in the WTC Cycle.
South Africa will play seven more Tests in 2024 which includes two against West Indies, two against Bangladesh, two at home against Sri Lanka and one against Pakistan. They will be playing only a two-match series because of the unavailability of players across all formats.
