CPL 2024: Heinrich Klaasen withdraws, citing private matters

Heinrich Klaasen, a batter and wicketkeeper from South Africa, has resigned from the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2024 citing a family issue. Only a few days before the league starts on Thursday, the St. Lucia Kings must find a successor due to this severe setback.

Famous for his aggressive batting, particularly against spin bowlers, Heinrich Klaasen was a highly sought-after addition to the St Lucia Kings.

The squad, who placed third on the points table and advanced to the Eliminator last season, will feel the loss of Klaasen, who was signed in June before of the CPL draft.

Tim Seifert, a batsman and wicketkeeper from New Zealand, has been brought in by the Kings as a substitute. Seifert will have large shoes to fill, while being a capable replacement with prior CPL experience—he won the championship with Trinbago Knight Riders in 2020.

Due to an injury, Sikandar Raza has also withdrawn.

In T20 cricket, Klaasen’s recent performance has been nothing short of extraordinary. Following his brief 2022 spell with the Guyana Amazon Warriors, in which he amassed 118 runs across five games. He has scored 2293 runs in 82 T20 matches for his club and country over the last two years, with an amazing strike rate of 169 that includes two hundreds and sixteen half-centuries.

There have also been some last-minute modifications to the CPL 2024. Australia’s Tim David has been temporarily replaced by Andries Gous of the USA with the Trinbago Knight Riders. The powerful hitter is notable for missing the first four games.

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In contrast, the Barbados Royals have added Shamarh Brooks and Sri Lankan all-rounder Dunith Wellalage to replace David Miller and Keshav Maharaj, who will miss the first two games because of obligations to the Cricket South Africa awards. An additional blow to the league came when Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe withdrew owing to injury. The all-around player’s replacement has not yet been revealed by the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots.