Heinrich Klaasen has been in a rich vein of form for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.
Image: AFP
Former Proteas captain Graeme Smith believes Heinrich Klaasen is showing “great maturity” in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
Klaasen has surged to the top of the overall batting charts at cricket’s most prestigious T20 tournament with 494 runs at an average of 54.88 for Sunrisers Hyderabad this season. The dashing right-hander passed his teammate Abhishek Sharma (475 runs) when he struck 69 off 43 balls in the victory over Punjab Kings on Wednesday.
The win lifted Sunrisers Hyderabad to the summit of the IPL standings.
“Klaasen has impressed me. I was a little bit worried about his recent form over the last year-and-a-half. But he’s played well, and played with brains,” Smith said in his Betway column.
“I think in the early phase of the tournament, some of his knocks were key. He wasn't striking at the 180s, 190s, but he was getting the job done for his team. Sometimes that shows maturity. That's sometimes the harder thing to do than just walk out and smash it.
“When you get into situations, you need to get your team over the line. I think that sometimes in T20 cricket, that's lost because of the way people are playing in the modern age.
“So, I think he was able to strike at 140, 150, win his team's games, build his own confidence, and then you saw him the other night walk in and be able to capitalize on a great platform. So he's shown some great maturity.”
Klaasen’s red-hot form has generated plenty of speculation as to whether the middle-order batter, who retired from international cricket in June last year after playing 60 ODIs, 58 T20Is and four Tests, would consider a Proteas comeback — much like fellow veteran Quinton de Kock did last year.
Klaasen, however, poured cold water on a potential U-turn, stating last week, “No, unfortunately not. For me, I’m looking forward to what’s a new chapter in my life and it’s growing the game of cricket.”
The 34-year-old recently teamed up with another former Proteas captain, Faf du Plessis, and legendary fielder Jonty Rhodes in a consortium linked to a Rotterdam franchise in the upcoming European T20 Premier League.
Former Proteas captain Graeme Smith.
Image: Alet Pretorius/Sportzpics
Smith admits Klaasen’s non-availability for the Proteas “is obviously a big loss”, but feels a roundtable with Cricket South Africa’s chiefs could yet see him participating in next year’s Cricket World Cup on home soil.
“I can’t speak for him, but I think it’s a slightly deeper issue than just a player that's retired,” he said. “It seems like it's family-related, and maybe one or two personal issues around certain leaders in South African cricket, I don't know.”
Klaasen has previously featured in the 2023 World Cup in India and three T20 World Cups (2021, 2022 and 2024).
He played a prominent role in the 2024 final against India in Barbados when he struck a half-century, but failed to take the Proteas over the line with just 30 runs required off 30 balls with six wickets intact.