"It was truly a very difficult decision" - South Africa star announces shock retirement from international cricket amid IPL 2025

Star South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen announced his retirement from international cricket following the culmination of his IPL 2025 season. His retirement comes as a shock as he is just 33 years old and has a home ODI World Cup in 2027.

The South Africa cricketer put up an emotional post on his Instagram handle to announce his retirement from international cricket. Klaasen posted a picture of himself in South Africa colors with his wife and daughter from the 2024 T20 World Cup final.

"It is a sad day for me as I announce that I have decided to step away from international cricket. 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," he wrote in a long and emotional post.

Klaasen played for SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the ongoing IPL 2025 season.

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Heinrich Klaasen's international career for South Africa

Heinrich Klaasen made his international debut for South Africa in an ODI against India at Cape Town in 2018. He made his T20I debut on the same tour against India at Johannesburg.

His Test debut came in 2019, also against India at Ranchi. The right-handed wicketkeeper-batter, known for his attacking style of play in the middle order, went on to represent his country in four Tests, 60 ODIs, and 58 T20Is.

He scored 104 runs in Tests, 2141 runs at an average of 43.69 and a strike-rate of 117.05 with four hundreds and 11 half-centuries in ODIs, and 1000 runs at an average of 23.25 and a strike-rate of 141.84 with five half-centuries in T20Is.

The South Africa star will now be seen playing only franchise cricket.