Klaasen opted not to sign a national contract and was absent from the 20-player list contracted for the 2025-26 season.
Heinrich Klaasen is among the most sought-after batters in white-ball cricket, and franchises across the globe spend a huge amount to include him. He has been equally consistent and destructive for his national team, South Africa.
However, as his value across T20 leagues surged, Klaasen decided to prioritise them over national interests and has been playing everywhere. He opted not to sign a national contract and was absent from the 20-player list contracted for the 2025-26 season.
Enoch Nkwe, CSA director of national teams and high performance, has revealed that they are discussing Klaasen’s contract. Given big international assignments in the next two years, South Africa must be tempted to make Klaasen available for as long as possible.
“We’ve been having all sorts of discussions, and he’ll come back to us on the way forward. I can’t go into detail at the moment, I can only do so once it’s been finalised. There’s obviously a lot to look at. There’s the T20 World Cup next year, the 2027 [ODI] World Cup, there’s his age … so the whole thing is not as straightforward as it might look. We’ve looked at every single element to this situation, from a contract point of view.”
Heinrich Klaasen has been a crucial member of South Africa’s middle order across white-ball formats in the last few years and has done immensely well. He was among the leading run-scorers in the World Cup 2023 and almost took the Proteas over the line in the T20 World Cup 2024 final.
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More ICC events are scheduled, with a T20 World Cup in India next year and a home World Cup in 2027. So, his presence will be pivotal for South Africa as they look to overcome those knockout challenges and win an ICC trophy after coming so close in the last few attempts.
However, Klaasen hasn’t opted for a national contract, suggesting his priority lies in T20 leagues. That must have concerned South Africa, who will play ample white-ball cricket in the coming months, and those series will coincide with T20 leagues.
Hence, they might be discussing a contract with Klaasen and hoping to reach a common point to make Klaasen play for South Africa more than he is supposed to after rejecting a contract. If Klaasen doesn’t feature for them in those ICC tournaments, their chances of succeeding will take a major hit, given the value he brings.
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