IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals has decided to sign South African wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen as a replacement for Steven Smith. Klaasen is thankful for this opportunity and very excited to become a part of the team.
After the two-year suspension due to corruption and match-fixing scandal, Rajasthan Royals making comeback in the IPL from the upcoming season. On the other hand, the ball-tampering scandal forced the franchise to sack Steven Smith from the captaincy and later they suspended him due to Cricket Australia’s (CA) one-year suspension on him.
26-years old South African wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen has been chosen as a replacement of Steven Smith. Earlier in this year, Klaasen made his international debut during India’s tour of South Africa. He played 4 ODIs and 3 T20Is during that tour and impressed with his batting performances.
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Klaasen has played 49 T20s where he has scored total 1,043 runs with 35.96 average. He has 6 half-centuries in T20 career while his highest T20 knock was an unbeaten 77 runs.
Zubin Bharucha, the head of cricket of Rajasthan Royals’ team, is feeling delighted for Klaasen’s joining in the team. He quoted, “We are delighted to have Klaasen onboard. His hard-hitting ability with plenty of options against spin makes him dangerous through the middle of an innings. What struck us about Klaasen other than his ability to strike a ball was his inherent hunger to make every opportunity count, this is a good space to be in as a cricketer and batsman. We look forward to working with Klaasen to ensure he has a great career in the IPL.”
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Meanwhile, Klaasen is very excited to become a part of the team. The right-handed batsman expressed, “I am thankful to the Rajasthan Royals for giving me this opportunity and making me part of the squad. It would be my first IPL and in fact, my first ever visit India so I am really excited to be teaming up and sharing the dressing room with some great names. I have made it my mission to ensure my performance makes a large impact on my team in the tournament.”
