Heinrich Klaasen pulls out of Caribbean Premier League 2024 due to family reasons; replacement named
Published - 29 Aug 2024, 11:38 AM | Updated - 30 Aug 2024, 11:08 AM
South Africa batter Heinrich Klaasen has withdrawn from the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2024 season due to a family emergency.
St Lucia Kings have signed New Zealand batter Tim Seifert, who last played in the CPL for the Trinbago Knight Riders in 2020, as Heinrich Klaasen's replacement.
Klaasen's decision comes just three days before the Saint Lucia Kings' opening match against the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League.
He has been out of action since the Major League Cricket in July and also missed the recent T20 series against the West Indies.
Heinrich Klaasen Ruled Out Of Caribbean Premier League 2024
Heinrich Klaasen’s absence is a major setback for the Saint Lucia Kings in the CPL 2024. The right-handed batter has been in outstanding form in T20 cricket.
Heinrich Klaasen has scored 4,746 runs from 211 matches at a strike rate of 150.18, including two centuries and 30 half-centuries in his T20 career.
The 33-year-old batter amassed 2,293 runs in 82 matches with an impressive strike rate of 169, including two centuries and 16 half-centuries in the last two years.
Klaasen last played in CPL 2022, where he scored 118 runs for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in five games at a strike rate of 137.
Heinrich Klaasen has been replaced by New Zealand’s Tim Seifert for the CPL 2024. Seifert, who is known for his explosive batting, has scored 598 runs in 35 T20Is for New Zealand with a strike rate of 146.67. The Kings will hope Seifert can fill the gap left by Klaasen in the upcoming tournament.
Sikandar Raza To Miss Entire Caribbean Premier League 2024
Zimbabwean all-rounder Sikandar Raza will miss the entire CPL 2024 season due to an unspecified injury.
The Zimbabwe T20I captain took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce that he will miss the entire season due to injury. The St Kitts & Nevis Patriots have not yet named a replacement for him.
"Gutted to be missing out on @CPL because of an injury. Wishing my brothers at St. Kitts and Nevis very best of luck for the tournament. Time to go home now #alhamdulillah," Raza wrote.
Gutted to be missing out on @CPL because of an injury
— Sikandar Raza (@SRazaB24) August 27, 2024
Wishing my brothers at St. Kitts and Nevis very best of luck for the tournament.
Time to go home now #alhamdulillah #VisitZimbabwe pic.twitter.com/E6Mym5rKYK
The Barbados Royals will be without South African players David Miller and Keshav Maharaj for their first two games due to their participation in the Cricket South Africa awards on September 5.
The Barbados Royals have brought in Dunith Wellalage and Shamarh Brooks as temporary replacements.
Australian middle-order batter Tim David will join the Trinbago Knight Riders after their first four games due to international commitments with Australia for Scotland and England T20Is.
The franchise has signed USA wicketkeeper-batter Andries Gous as a temporary replacement for Tim David.
The Caribbean Premier League 2024 will kick off with a match between Antigua and Barbuda Falcons and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Thursday, August 29.
