He played four Tests, 60 ODIs and 58 T20Is for South Africa.
Veteran South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen has announced his retirement from international cricket after just a seven-yea international career.
Heinrich Klaasen’s last international match for South Africa was the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final against New Zealand in Lahore in March. Klaasen will thus miss the 2027 ODI World Cup at home. The 2027 ODI World Cup will be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
“It is a sad day for me as I announce that I have decided to step away from international cricket. It took me a long time to decide what’s best for me and my family for the future. It was truly a very difficult decision but also one that I have absolute peace with,” Klaasen wrote on his official Instagram page.
“From the first day, it was the biggest privilege representing my country and it was everything that I have worked for and dreamed about as a young boy.
“I have made great friendships and relationships that I will treasure for life. Playing for the Proteas gave me the opportunity to meet great people that changed my life, and to those people I can’t say thank you enough. My road to wearing the Proteas shirt was different than most and there were certain coaches in my career that kept believing in me – to them I will always be grateful.
“To have played with the Proteas badge on my chest was and will always be the biggest honour in my career.
“I look forward to spending more time with my family as this decision will allow me to do so.
“I will always be a big Proteas supporter and would like to thank everyone that supported me and my teammates during my career,” he added in his Instagram post.
In April this year, Heinrich Klaasen’s international future had been put into doubt after he was omitted from the central contracts list by Cricket South Africa (CSA). At that time, CSA had said that discussions were going on with Heinrich Klaasen and that “a final decision will be made in due course,” as ESPNCricinfo had reported.
In January 2024, Heinrich Klaasen had announced his retirement from Tests. The right-handed batter last played a Test against West Indies in March 2023.
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The 33-year-old played four Tests, 60 ODIs and 58 T20Is for South Africa, having scored 104, 2141 and 1000 runs across the three formats respectively.
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