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Chennai Super Kings wicketkeeper Sanju Samson has issued an official clarification over his fight with Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Heinrich Klaasen.
The incident had occurred during the two teams' IPL 2026 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on May 18. SRH had won the match by 5 wickets and confirmed their qualification to the playoffs.
The Sanju Samson-Heinrich Klassen incident
The supposed altercation between the two took place during the 15th over of SRH's chase of 181.
Klaasen was batting on 47 runs from 25 balls when a delivery from Noor Ahmad slipped past him. Klaasen had briefly put up his feet in the air, and that was all the time Samson needed to execute an amazing stumping.
When Samson and the CSK players huddled to celebrate the wicket, he appeared to exchange some heated words with Klaasen.
Also Read: Heinrich Klaasen loses his temper after Sanju Samson does a Dhoni-esque stumping
Samson issues a public statement
On Wednesday, i.e., two days after the match, Sanju Samson took to his Instagram and cleared the air on his equation with Klaasen.
On his Instagram story, he uploaded a picture of the two of them hugging and wrote, "Things happen on the field, but lots of love and respect to this gem of a person off it."
In the background, he included the song "The Cycle" from the 2024 Tamil movie "Meiyazhagan."
Sanju Samson's Instagram story for Heinrich Klaasen 💛 pic.twitter.com/T7cbDEEpRl
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) May 20, 2026
Sanju Samson and Heinrich Klaasen's form in IPL 2026
Even though he has been slightly inconsistent, Sanju Samson is still CSK's highest run-scorer in IPL 2026. In 13 matches, he had made 477 runs at an average of 47.70 and a strike rate above 166.
Samson has also made 2 centuries and a fifty so far, with all three of those knocks being unbeaten.
Heinrich Klaasen, too, is SRH's highest run-scorer in this year's tournament. With 555 runs in 13 matches, he is currently third on the Orange Cap table, but has held the crown before.
Klasen also averages 50.45 in this IPL season at a strike rate of 155.89 and five half-centuries with a highest score of 69.
