With the retirement of South Africa’s middle order batter and their wicket-keeper Heinrich Klaasen, who stands like a wall behind the batter to restrict the ball from going any further, it has caused a major setback for the team just before the WTC final against Australia. He has managed to bring the Proteas out of situations that seemed like something impossible in crucial matches. With the exclusion of the star batter, the WTC is in jeopardy, but this would not be the only reason for South African cricket’s downfall or recent failures in the past.
🚨 HEINRICH KLAASEN ANNOUNCED HIS INTERNATIONAL RETIREMENT. 🚨
– One of the most heartbreaking news! pic.twitter.com/WrFhW8sziN---Advertisement---— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 2, 2025
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South Africa’s Reservation Policy
South African cricket has a reservation policy that aims to include a mandate to maintain a team by including an average of 6 players of colour in the national team, out of which two players have to be Black African for a season. This policy was implemented in the recent past but was later rescinded and was reintroduced in 2016. This mandate has been in effect for both the national as well as domestic teams. For each domestic side, the number of Black Africans in each team should be at least 3. Some critics have been suggesting that this has restricted the team’s performance as the team has to exclude talented White players.
Klaasen’s International Career
So far in his Test matches, Heinrich Klaasen has notched up 104 runs, averaging 13 per match. His last match in Tests was on Mar 2023, where he played against West Indies at DP World Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.
So far in his ODI career, Klaasen has taken part in 60 games and scored 2,141 runs with an average of 44. In March 2025, Heinrich Klaasen’s Odi match was played at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore and he hit 3 runs in 7 balls.
So far in his T20 career, Heinrich Klaasen has appeared in 58 games and amassed 1,000 runs with an average of 23. In the T20 match opposite Pakistan at SuperSport Park, Centurion, South Africa which happened in Dec 2024, Klaasen scored 8 runs for his team.
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