Heinrich Klaasen announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Monday, June 2, admitting that it was a "difficult decision" but has made "peace with" it. Klaasen, who wasn't part of the 20-member contracted list announced by Cricket South Africa (CSA) in April, had decided not to renew his contract and hence, there were signs, especially with the likes of David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen signing hybrid ones. Klaasen said that he wanted to prioritise his family and the decision was in the best interest of him and his family's future.
Klaasen, who made his debut for South Africa in 2018, went on to represent the Proteas across all formats. The 33-year-old had already announced his retirement from Tests in January 2024 after playing just four matches. With Klaasen signing for both the Major League Cricket and then the Hundred, which would clash with a white-ball series against Australia, the writing was on the wall.
"It is a sad day for me as I announce that I have decided to step away from international cricket," Klaasen wrote in an emotional post on Instagram. "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.
"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," Klaasen further added.
Enoch Nkwe, CSA's Director of National Teams and High Performance, said, "Heinrich has been a true match-winner for South Africa. He was a player capable of changing the course of a game in a matter of overs. His commitment and impact in the white-ball formats have been immense, and we thank him for his outstanding service to South African cricket.
"He has been transparent with Cricket South Africa throughout the past few months, and we fully respect his decision to retire from international cricket. We wish him continued success in the next chapter of his journey," Nkwe added.
Klaasen was a late bloomer and with Quinton de Kock going so well, it took a bit of time for the wicketkeeper-batter to make a room for himself in the national side and then the playing XI. However, when he did, he made sure the break open the doors as he transformed himself into a spin-basher and a middle-order beast, who could change games at the flick of a switch.
Klaasen is just behind Glenn Maxwell in scoring the most runs in ODIs with a 100-plus strike rate (117) as he amassed 2,141 runs in the format while scoring exactly 1,000 runs in T20Is. It would be a shame not to have Klaasen in the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next year and in the home World Cup in 2027 but the wicketkeeper-batter will continue to feature in the T20 leagues around the world.