South Africa’s wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen announced his Test retirement on Monday (Jan 8). The swashbuckling batter played only four Tests for South Africa, with his last appearance in red-ball cricket coming against West Indies in March last year. Klaasen ended his Test career with 104 runs in 4 matches. In late 2021, Quinton de Kock — South Africa’s regular keeper-batter since Mark Boucher’s retirement — had also called it quits from the format. In the recently-ended home series versus India, it was Kyle Verreynne who kept wickets with Klaasen being out of the squad. 

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Announcing his retirement, Klaasen said in a statement, as quoted by Cricbuzz, “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. 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. Thanks to everyone that has played a part in my red-ball career and shaped me into the cricketer I am today. But for now a new challenge awaits and I am looking forward to it,” he added.

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The 32-year-old Klaasen had a promising first-class record — scoring 5,347 runs at an average of 46.09 in 85 matches. He mostly remained Klaasen an understudy at the Test level due to De Kock’s presence. While he finally made his debut in 2019, during Proteas’ three-match Test series versus hosts India, he remained out of the playing XI regularly. With the team choosing Verreynne for the India series, it might have prompted Klaasen to retire from Tests.

He is at a different level in white-ball formats, being one of the key players for SA in recent times. He ended 2023 with a 172.71 strike-rate in T20s and striking at a whopping 140.66 in ODIs.

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