New Delhi. South Africa’s defeat in the ICC T20 World Cup final against the Indian cricket team deeply shocked the team’s star batsman Heinrich Klaasen. He said that he has played three T20 finals this year and was mentally very tired, that is why he decided to withdraw from the Caribbean Premier League.
In the T20 World Cup final, Heinrich Klaasen created fear of defeat by hitting fours and sixes in the 15th over of Akshar Patel. After this over, South Africa needed 30 runs from 30 balls while chasing 177 runs. The team was hoping to lift its first World Cup trophy but Klaasen was out in the 17th over off the bowling of Hardik Pandya. This proved to be the turning point of the match and the team lost the final by 7 runs. Months after the heartbreaking defeat, Klaasen recalled feeling ‘burned out’ and ‘mentally exhausted’.
A few days after scoring 52 runs in 27 balls and hitting five sixes, Klaasen did not have much time to recover from the mental trauma. He was the captain of the Major League Cricket (MLC) franchise Seattle Orcas. The 33-year-old Klaasen said that 2024 was a difficult year for him as he played and lost three T20 finals.
Talking to Rapport newspaper, he said, ‘After the T20 World Cup, I was feeling a little burnt out because I played only after five days. I played three T20 finals this year – Durban Super Giants [SA20]Sunrisers Hyderabad [IPL] And for South Africa [तीनों हार गए]Mentally I was very tired.
Klaasen could not continue his form and could only score 97 runs in six innings in MLC 2024. After the disappointing performance of Seattle Orcas, Klaasen decided to skip the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2024. He was to join the St. Lucia Kings along with former South African captain Faf du Plessis. “I had already committed to playing for them, and later explained that I was mentally tired, and they understood that.’
Tags: Caribbean premier league, Icc T20 world cup, India vs South Africa, T20 World Cup
FIRST PUBLISHED : October 15, 2024, 4:07 pm IST