Heinrich Klaasen

Some Lesser Known Facts About Heinrich Klaasen

• Heinrich Klaasen grew up in Pretoria, where he developed an interest in cricket while studying at the University of Pretoria; he played for his college team.

• While playing for the Northerns, Klaasen made his first-class debut in the 2012/13 season.

• In February 2017, Heinrich Klaasen narrowly missed scoring a double-century, yet his significant contribution led the Titans to a victory over the Dolphins in the first-class tournament.

  

• In August 2017, the Nelson Mandela Bay Stars included him in their team for the first season of the T20 Global League.

• In October 2018, he joined the Durban Heat for the first season of the Mzansi Super League T20 competition.

• In September 2019, he was selected to be part of the Tshwane Spartans’ team for that year’s Mzansi Super League competition.

• In April 2021, he played for Northerns.

• In February 2023, he scored his second hundred in the SA20 league, representing Durban’s Super Giants in a match against the Pretoria Capitals.

• In July 2023, Klaasen made history as the first player to hit a century in Major League Cricket during a game where he represented Seattle Orcas against MI New York.

• Klassen played club cricket for the Purbrook Cricket Club in 2007 and 2010.

  

• On 2 April 2018, Heinrich Klaasen played his first IPL match after being signed by the Rajasthan Royals to take Steve Smith’s place.

  

• In December 2018, during the auction for the 2019 season, Royal Challengers Bangalore bought Klaasen. However, they let him go before the auction for the 2020 IPL season.

• In the 2023 season, he was a part of Sunrisers Hyderabad and scored his first IPL century during a game against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

  

• Even though Klaasen was picked for South Africa’s Test team for their series in New Zealand in February 2017, he didn’t make it into the playing lineup.

• In February 2018, he stepped in for the injured Quinton de Kock and made his ODI debut for South Africa in a series against India. Klaasen received his first Man of the Match award in his second ODI game.

  

• In February 2018, he was also selected for the South Africa Twenty20 International (T20I) team for their series against India.

• On 29 February 2020, Heinrich Klaasen hit his first ODI century during a match against Australia.

• In January 2021, Heinrich Klaasen was named captain of the South African T20I team for their series against Pakistan. He was chosen as captain again for the T20I series against Pakistan in April 2021.

• On 8 January 2024, Heinrich Klaasen announced his retirement from Test cricket, having played only 4 Test matches since his debut in 2019.

  

• Here are Heinrich Klaasen’s Test stats:

• Klassen admires AB de Villiers as his role model, and he often praises de Villiers’ shot-selection skills. Klassen once said,
  

  You look up to some role models and you want to be like them – like AB de Villiers. You want to play all the shots but the genius behind guys like AB was knowing when to play them.”

• He loves fishing, and he shares his fishing experience on social media.

  

• Klaasen loves dogs and often posts photos of his pet dog on social media.

  

• He enjoys alcoholic beverages and is often spotted cheering along with his wife.

  

• Klassen is a wildlife enthusiast and often shares his wildlife experience on social media. ^[3]Heinrich Klaasen – Instagram

• Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram are close friends, and Klaasen frequently posts pictures with Markram on social media.

  

• Shukri Conrad, the coach of South Africa’s National Academy, once referred to him as the ‘poor man’s Dhoni.’ Conrad said,
  

  Heinrich stays very calm in the situation. He stays in the moment. There’s very much a ‘poor man’s MS Dhoni’ about him. There are really no sideshows to his game and he doesn’t wait for the game to come to him.”