New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) Heinrich Klaasen has set his sights on winning trophies for the teams that he plays for after having hung up his boots from international cricket. Klaasen, who is plying his trade for Manchester Super Giants in the ongoing The Hundred gears up for the final against 2022 champions Trent Rockets on Sunday in what is a rematch of 2022’s final.
Speaking ahead of the final, Klaasen laid down his main goals in franchise competitions. “Winning trophies is one goal. It’s been a lean run on the trophies, so the personal goal is to get into, and get the team into positions to win trophies. Then, obviously, a big challenge now, playing less cricket, is to keep the quality of cricket up,” he told JioHotstar.
Klaasen had a stellar IPL 2026 with Sunrisers Hyderabad, wherein he scored 624 runs in 15 innings and had an impressive start to The Hundred too. “I had a good IPL, I’ve had a good start to The Hundred, it was a little bit silent in the middle, but the key was to get some runs under the belt and keep my standard up to what it normally is,” Klaasen added.
Klaasen has been one of the busiest players in franchise cricket since he retired from international cricket in June 2025. Apart from the IPL and The Hundred, he appears in the SA20 (Durban Super Giants), is set to make his debut in the ILT20 with the Gulf Giants and will be in action for the Rotterdam Dockers in the inaugural European T20 Premier League.
Speaking on how he manages to play in different leagues around the world, Klaasen stated that his retirement from international cricket has enabled him to ply his trade for franchises around the globe. “Retiring from international cricket gave me the freedom to have a break in between these competitions. For the majority of these competitions, I’ve got about a month, a month and a half, or two months off in between. So that gives me enough time to just reset, take everything in, work on the things that need to be worked on, and just get the body ready for the next tournament,” he said.
Meanwhile, the former Proteas star also listed one Indian bowler he loves facing and the other that he wants to avoid. “I love facing Yuzvendra Chahal, while I would happily avoid Arshdeep Singh with the new ball,” he said.
–IANS
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