South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen has announced that he is stepping away from international cricket, as he looks to prioritise his T20 league future.

The decision means Klaasen, who will be 34 next month, played his last game for South Africa in the Champions Trophy semi-final defeat to New Zealand in Lahore in March. That has turned out to be the final game of a seven-year international career, in which he played four Tests, 60 ODIs and and 58 T20Is. It was in the white-ball formats that he really made an impact, and his reputation as one of the game's most fearsome middle-order hitters; he exits ODIs with one of the highest career strike rates.

It was in the 50-over format that he played one of the innings people will remember most, a blistering 83-ball 174 against Australia in Centurion. He was a key figure in South Africa's runs to the semi-finals of the 2023 ODI World Cup as well as the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup. His dismissal in that final against India for a 27-ball 52 was one of the major turning points in South Africa's ultimately doomed chase.

The decision to retire, though, had been on the cards for a while now. He was overlooked for Cricket South Africa's central contracts in April. Klassen had been on a white-ball only contract until then, having retired from Test cricket in January 2024.