Proteas batter Heinrich Klaasen announced on Monday morning that he had retired from international cricket with immediate effect.
Klaasen’s retirement brought an end to a distinguished seven-year career with the Proteas. The 33-year-old announced that he would be stepping away from the white-ball formats, which follows his retirement from red-ball cricket last year.
Klaasen made his One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) debuts in 2018 and went on to establish himself as one of the most destructive white-ball players of his generation.
He played 60 ODIs and scored over 2 000 runs at an average of just under 44 in the middle order. His power-hitting prowess was on full display during a blistering career-best 174 against Australia in Centurion in 2023. That was the second highest score ever recorded by a number five.
Renowned for his dominance against spin, Klaasen also represented South Africa in 58 T20Is, striking at a rate of 141.84. And his ability to take on bowling attacks with calculated aggression made him a mainstay in South Africa’s limited-overs set-up.
