Former South African team captain Dean Elgar had recently announced his retirement from Test cricket. He played the Test series against India, which was his last series. After this, now another South African player has said goodbye to Test cricket. This player is none other than wicketkeeper batsman Heinrich Klaasen, who played his last Test match last year. However, Klaasen has played only 4 test matches in his career.
The 32-year-old Klaasen has been sidelined from the red-ball format after playing four matches for South Africa between 2019 and 2023. He made his debut in Test cricket with the series against India played in India itself. After this he represented the country in Australia and in the last summer season he played against West Indies in two matches. However, his performance was not good in these matches and due to this he was sidelined from the South African Test team.
It is not that Heinrich Klaasen does not have experience in red ball cricket. He has played 85 first class matches, in which he has scored a total of 5347 runs at an average of more than 46. He has scored 12 centuries in first-class cricket. His best score in this format is 292 runs, when he scored in the 4 day series. While telling Cricket South Africa about his retirement, Klaasen said that after thinking for several nights, I came to the conclusion that I should retire from Test cricket.
He said, "After a few sleepless nights wondering whether I was making the right decision, I have decided to retire from red-ball cricket. It is a difficult decision that I have taken, because This is my favorite format of the game so far. The battles I have 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 have been able to represent my country."
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