The star wicket-keeper batter Heinrich Klaasen has announced his retirement from Test cricket. Head coach Shukri Conrad had indicated that the cricketer might make a Test appearance later this year. However, Kyle Verreynne was chosen over Klaasen for the recently concluded two-match Test series against India.
Klassen has played four Test matches for South Africa between 2019 and 2023, where he scored 104 runs in eight innings with an average of 13, without registering a fifty or hundred.
Despite retiring from Tests, Heinrich Klaasen will continue to feature for the Proteas in white-ball cricket. His notable performances include scoring 373 runs at a strike rate of 133. 21 in the ODI World Cup in India last year. Klaasen, who boasts a total of 54 ODIs and 43 T20Is in his career, is South Africa's preferred wicketkeeper in the shorter formats.
“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 favorite format of the game. 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,” Klaasen said in a statement.
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