Will Heinrich Klaasen make South Africa return? SRH star reacts to Pietersen remark
Heinrich Klaasen has ruled out a return to international cricket despite calls for a comeback. The South African says his focus is on franchise cricket, Rotterdam in the ETPL and staying mentally fresh.
Heinrich Klaasen shocked everyone when he made the call to retire from international cricket in June 2025. Considered to be one of the best batters in T20 format, Klaasen was at the peak of his powers and played a big role in South Africa's run to the T20 World Cup 2024 final.
Since then, Klaasen has been taking part in various leagues around the globe and continues to impress in the ongoing IPL 2026 campaign. Such has been the form of the 34-year-old, Kevin Pietersen urged Cricket South Africa to make the phone call and get him back into the fold for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
So, will Klaasen make a return? Speaking to Sports Today in an exclusive chat, the new co-owner of the Rotterdam franchise in the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) said that an international return is off the table for him and he is focused on growing the game at the moment.
Klaasen said that his focus will now be on the ETPL and getting the Rotterdam fans to rally around the new team.
"No, unfortunately not. For me, I'm looking forward to what's a new chapter in my life and it's growing the game of cricket. I'm really looking forward to partnering up with Rotterdam and we're really pushing hard to make this thing happen and to make sure that we run a professional business and we're looking forward to getting the community behind us and getting the right infrastructure and the right people behind us to make this a success," said Klaasen.
WHAT'S THE SECRET FOR KLAASEN'S IPL 2026 SUCCESS
Klaasen finds himself second on the list for the orange cap with 414 runs from nine matches. While someone like Nicholas Pooran, who also retired from international cricket, struggles for form, the South African batter continues to go from strength to strength.
So what's the secret behind Klaasen's success? Well, according to the SRH star there is nothing at all and just belief. Klaasen pointed out the example of Faf du Plessis, his co-owner at Rotterdam, and how he has continued to age like fine wine after quitting international cricket and playing in T20 leagues all over the world.
"I don't think there's a secret. I think it's the belief. If you look at our co-partner, Faf du Plessis, he's like old wine. The longer he plays, the better he's becoming. So, he's been dominating leagues around the world since he's retired from international cricket.
So, it shows you that it is possible. It's just about you need to take a little bit more care off the field and what you do and how you prepare for the big leagues. It's not like you can just have a holiday and just walk into these leagues," said Klaasen.
Klaasen said that preparing himself before coming into leagues is important and the only benefit for him at the moment is that he goes into a league like IPL mentally fresh.
"It's a couple of weeks to months preparation before to make sure that you're at least on speed with the game and then maybe come a couple of weeks earlier to get some proper warm-up games in. So, it's just a change of structure and how you will do it than what you normally would have done. But it is doable."
"The only benefit for me at this moment is that I'm mentally fresh when you come into a league like this. That makes it a lot easier," said Klaasen.
SRH will next be in action on May 3 against KKR in Hyderabad.
IPL 2026 | IPL Schedule | IPL Points Table | IPL Player Stats | Purple Cap | Orange Cap | IPL Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
Heinrich Klaasen shocked everyone when he made the call to retire from international cricket in June 2025. Considered to be one of the best batters in T20 format, Klaasen was at the peak of his powers and played a big role in South Africa's run to the T20 World Cup 2024 final.
Since then, Klaasen has been taking part in various leagues around the globe and continues to impress in the ongoing IPL 2026 campaign. Such has been the form of the 34-year-old, Kevin Pietersen urged Cricket South Africa to make the phone call and get him back into the fold for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
So, will Klaasen make a return? Speaking to Sports Today in an exclusive chat, the new co-owner of the Rotterdam franchise in the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) said that an international return is off the table for him and he is focused on growing the game at the moment.
Klaasen said that his focus will now be on the ETPL and getting the Rotterdam fans to rally around the new team.
"No, unfortunately not. For me, I'm looking forward to what's a new chapter in my life and it's growing the game of cricket. I'm really looking forward to partnering up with Rotterdam and we're really pushing hard to make this thing happen and to make sure that we run a professional business and we're looking forward to getting the community behind us and getting the right infrastructure and the right people behind us to make this a success," said Klaasen.
WHAT'S THE SECRET FOR KLAASEN'S IPL 2026 SUCCESS
Klaasen finds himself second on the list for the orange cap with 414 runs from nine matches. While someone like Nicholas Pooran, who also retired from international cricket, struggles for form, the South African batter continues to go from strength to strength.
So what's the secret behind Klaasen's success? Well, according to the SRH star there is nothing at all and just belief. Klaasen pointed out the example of Faf du Plessis, his co-owner at Rotterdam, and how he has continued to age like fine wine after quitting international cricket and playing in T20 leagues all over the world.
"I don't think there's a secret. I think it's the belief. If you look at our co-partner, Faf du Plessis, he's like old wine. The longer he plays, the better he's becoming. So, he's been dominating leagues around the world since he's retired from international cricket.
So, it shows you that it is possible. It's just about you need to take a little bit more care off the field and what you do and how you prepare for the big leagues. It's not like you can just have a holiday and just walk into these leagues," said Klaasen.
Klaasen said that preparing himself before coming into leagues is important and the only benefit for him at the moment is that he goes into a league like IPL mentally fresh.
"It's a couple of weeks to months preparation before to make sure that you're at least on speed with the game and then maybe come a couple of weeks earlier to get some proper warm-up games in. So, it's just a change of structure and how you will do it than what you normally would have done. But it is doable."
"The only benefit for me at this moment is that I'm mentally fresh when you come into a league like this. That makes it a lot easier," said Klaasen.
SRH will next be in action on May 3 against KKR in Hyderabad.
IPL 2026 | IPL Schedule | IPL Points Table | IPL Player Stats | Purple Cap | Orange Cap | IPL Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
