Good news for Proteas as Heinrich Klaasen shines against spin in IPL

Cape Town – It is not often that an overseas batter is credited for his ability to play high-quality spin in the Indian Premier League, but Proteas middle-order star Heinrich Klaasen is certainly earning the respect of the locals.

Klaasen, playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, has enjoyed a breakout IPL season this year after being part of the IPL since 2018 already.

Having previously only been a rotating squad member, Klaasen has established himself in the Sunrisers’ middle-order with some exceptional performances. The 31-year-old has struck 215 runs at an average of 43, but more tellingly he has the highest strike-rate of 185.34 for batters that have scored more than 200 runs in the competition.

It is widely acknowledged that batting upfront against the new ball in the Powerplay is the most productive time on the subcontinent, while coming in after the fielding restrictions have been completed against the slower bowlers is the most challenging.

Klaasen's cameo comes to an end 👏

5️⃣7️⃣ needed in last 4️⃣ overs 💪 pic.twitter.com/jo7W1mtFKk

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) May 7, 2023

But this is Klaasen’s role every match for the Sunrisers, and more often than not he’s been able to find a way to make a telling contribution for his team. This is partly due to his attitude in confronting the challenge.

“I think that’s the exciting part of where I am batting. Every day is a new situation. The conditions obviously change, and the match situation gets harder and harder sometimes,” he said.

“It is an interesting one, but luckily I have some experience there so I have some form of a template to work from. But normally you have to be aggressive from the start and take some form of risk upfront to make sure you get off to a good start to get into the flow of the innings.”

Klaasen certainly has a clear gameplan in terms of how he approaches his innings’, but he would not be consistently successful if he did not have the skills to execute it.

A large part of that skill is his ability to counter the high-quality spinners that operate during the middle overs of an IPL match.

He was involved in yet another intriguing tussle with Rajasthan Royals’ duo Ravi Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal over the weekend. And although Chahal dismissed Klaasen, it was not before the flame-haired batter had deposited a six and boundary off consecutive deliveries.

Klaasen credits his ability to attack the spinners due to his formative years back at the Titans in South Africa, where he regularly faced the likes of his Proteas teammate Tabraiz Shamsi in the nets at Centurion. Shamsi was for a long period ranked amongst the top two T20 bowlers in the world.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to grow up through our provincial ranks back home in South Africa that I got to face a lot of quality spinners, and we always challenge each other in the nets,” Klaasen said.

“I had to improvise a little bit, and learn how to play their best deliveries, and I think that’s why I have been fortunate enough to play spin the way I can play spin today. It’s all due to playing class spin bowling back home.”

Klaasen will hope to continue his form in a bid to keep the Sunrisers’ slim chances of qualifying for the play-offs alive when they face Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday.

@ZaahierAdams