Heinrich Klaasen: Why He Retired & Why He’s Thriving at Sunrisers Hyderabad

In this episode, we dive into the journey of South African cricket star Heinrich Klaasen — from the surprising reasons behind his international retirement to his incredible second chapter in the Indian Premier League with Sunrisers Hyderabad.
We unpack:
Why Klaasen stepped away from international cricket
How the pressures and demands of the game shaped his decision
His rebirth in the IPL and why he’s loving life with SRH
The freedom, form and confidence he’s found in Hyderabad
How his power-hitting has made him one of the most feared finishers in the league
If you’re a cricket fan, this is a must-watch look into Klaasen’s mindset, his new environment, and why the IPL has brought out some of the best cricket of his career.
Like, subscribe, and don’t miss this deep dive into one of the game’s most explosive talents.

The views expressed by the guests on the CS Dupac show are their own and do not represent the views of the show or its host. Hello and welcome to the CS Duplic Show. Thank you to everyone that has liked and subscribed. Today’s guest, well, he’s a former pro tiers cricketer who is still very much one of the top destructive batsmen in the T20 leagues around the world. Hinrich Clen joins me today. Let’s get into it. Welcome to the show. Joining me today, Hinrich Clen. Hinrich, thanks so much for making time. And I know we’ve been trying to get this together for a while, but it’s good to have you in studio. Thanks for making time. How things going? Yeah, thank you for having me. Yeah, it’s been what can twice. Um, third time postponed. Postponed. Third time lucky. Um, yeah, it’s been good. Um, nice to have some time off. Been crazy. So, I haven’t rested it really, but um it’s all good. It’s nice to be away from cricket and just be a normal family family guy at this moment. Yeah. Father and husband and all those things, right? Tell me, I mean, this schedule that you guys have at the moment, it’s just wild. And I mean, let’s let’s, you know, take out the international component. There’s T20 cricket 365 at the moment. It’s it’s crazy. Yeah, it’s too much. And I think that led to my decision of just tapering down a little bit. Um I think myself, I’ve been on the road for about 5 years, 6 years now. Um and family with me for the last 3 years. So it’s been crazy. It’s 7 months away from home basically. And it’s just too much. It’s it’s nice. Um we’re very blessed to have all those opportunities and um the options to go play around the world and explore a little bit but you still want to be at home and um with all the countries out there. South Africa is still number one to come back home. Yeah, we’ll chat we’ll chat about that cuz you’ve seen a lot of different countries played in different places but does your bed feel really good each time you get back home? Right. You know what I mean? That feeling you finally sit back in the bed must be an unbelievable feeling being home that as well. And I always just go, I want to shower when I get back home. I just want to feel clean, you know. But um yeah, no, to be back in your own home and just do whatever you need to do in your own space. That’s more important for me. It’s um and I think with my little one and my wife, I can see the mental switch. Um they’re more happy. They they just want to be at home. I suppose when you’re on the road and playing around the world, they don’t really get as much time with you, right? There’s daddy playing Hinrich playing cricket. But it’s the little bits that they get exposed to, right? Because it’s games, it’s hotels, it’s travel, it’s training, it’s it’s an ongoing cycle. Yeah. It’s um we made a joke with my little one. She’s now or turning three in December. We ask her where’s your house? and she goes like in the hotel and we start going like that’s actually scary that about let’s call it 55% of her life she’s been in hotels traveling the whole time and flying around and so it’s been a crazy stint for her but um and then we made a joke like we’re flying again and she just cried and I said oh no man this is not nice I don’t like this at all so she just want to be at our house playing with her own toys and so yeah it’s been crazy and um I’m been fortunate that um they’ve been on tour with me every tour that we can do. So that’s great. Um I haven’t missed a lot of the little ones life. Um so which is nice and a lot of respect for my wife going into a lot of the places to sit in hotels and you can’t really do anything. It’s just ba basically babysitting the whole time and just waiting for me to come home to sleep again, wake up, same routine in hotels, travel the whole time. It’s it’s tough on them and yeah, so I’ve got a new love for my wife and for doing that. Is it uh an a space where you can sort of be yourself if you know what I mean? Um when you go back into your hotel room back home, you and your wife and the little one, the family, whereas when you’re out in the middle, you’re kind of on show to the world, right? And and most of these leagues these days are broadcast to to millions, if not more than that. um where you’re under pressure, you’re under constant scrutiny, and you can’t just sort of cut cut loose, right? If you know what I mean. You have to almost be on display, on show, almost on this pedestal, and then when you can get home, you can be yourself and just sort of take a breath because it’s it’s a disconnect that’s required at times. I Yeah, I think my family is my humble place to be fair. Um there’s a lot of times where I go out from zero and you want to jump off the roof or hang yourself in the change room and then you get back into the hotel, the little one just wants to play with you. She’s smiling and she gives you a hug and um she thinks you won the game and so nothing changed in her eyes and I remember the one innings I played in India against RCB scored 100. I messaged my wife on the bus, we’re going to have a couple of drinks. Um we need to celebrate. got back to that T and the little one was screaming and crying and just like blew in the face. Um so it’s a quite humbling place for me and it takes takes you away from cricket quite easily and quickly. Um and I don’t think much about cricket when I’m with him which is nice. I know my wife wants to fish out on a lot of things, but she knows there’s a line that um or there’s a certain amount of time that we can chat about it. And then it’s family time and you just try to switch off as much as possible, which is for me very important. And then the other thing that they bring to the party is that um it’s pressure to keep them alive and cricket is there’s no pressure. It’s honestly it’s a privilege to play in in tough situations. It’s not it’s not pressure. It’s um it’s a honor to play in those places and to do what we need to do. But um to keep my little one alive, that’s that’s different pressure. Um so that’s changed my perspective about cricket completely and I’m thankful for them and hopefully um we’ve got another one coming. So congratulations. Yeah, a lightye this time. So So that’s a good spot um to be in. But yeah, so I’ve changed quite a bit after the little one came into the picture. Um my off offfield behaviors and um my outlets and stuff like that. So do you feel you’ve softened a little bit? Because as a pro tier, as a former protier and someone who’s commanded the fee that you got to be retained in the Indian Premier League, there’s almost a natural instinct to put up barriers and and guard rails because of, you know, the world is a is a tricky place to navigate when you’re a professional athlete. I think there’s a lot of pressures that come comes with it. Um, and normally we will drink at the bar, do stuff like that. And just to get release, um, because there’s not a lot of other places that you can get that release. And once or since they’ve been on tour with me, that become a lot less. um there’s different outlets that I can use and um so they changed that perspective quite a bit and made me maybe a little bit unpopular um in the team environment because the boys obviously want to go out um go eat dinners, have a couple of beers and stuff like that and um my wife is very good. she will join anyone for dinner so she doesn’t worry too much but there’s a stage where you also want just want to be with them or in a smaller group um and that’s where we are now in our lives and very happy but um sometimes it can be the unpopular place to be but there’s more to life than cricket and that’s um that aspect changed my life which is I’m happy I’m comfortable with that and um and a nice thing is that I see is there a lot of my friends and people that also starts going in more into the family side. Yeah. So, I think we’ve made a small change and which is good and the people are more chilled about it. But the guys that always loves us, they still with us and they’ve got great relationships with my wife and the little one. So, yeah, I imagine it’s a win-win. You’ve made friends all over the world. I mean, you’ve played with some of the biggest names. You are one of the biggest names, especially in white ball cricket globally. Um, I suppose if it’s teammates in IPL or in the US or Caribbean, wherever it may be, you have guys you look back at, well, not look back at, but you go, “Hey, we can have dinner. There’s no pressure to go balls to the wall later on. We can have a nice civilized dinner and wake up tomorrow morning feeling like we’re good to go, right?” 100%. No, you you still go out a couple of times, but we call it basically day drinking these days. But yeah, no, I’ve learned something from one of my mates, Franch Laku. He was at the Titans and he got released and then he’s he said to me he thought he had so much so many friends in the cricket industry, but there’s only two guys that actually messaged him to ask if he’s all right. And that’s where we like separated friend cricket friends from proper friends. Um, and around the world I fortunate enough to make some good friends that I still keep in touch with. And um when you see them, you make time time for them to have either coffee or dinner and they’re very happy that the family is with you and you can have drinks, you can do whatever you want to, but they know my family’s coming with me and um they they love it. I’ve got to ask you in a place like India for example, right? Uh constant spotlight um there’s pressure all the time. When you first got into the IPL, was it sort of difficult to sort of assimilate to that environment and get used to it? I mean, you’re quite a reserve guy. I mean, out in the middle, you’re a beast, but was it difficult to sort of get into that swing or were you welcomed in? Is is it a is it a tricky environment to navigate or was it one where kind of it’s all about the cricket and and having a good time? I think my first year that was at Rajasthan, I wasn’t really a big name or anything. I think my timing was spot on. um quitting got injured. I’ve done well against India or played a couple of good in innings against them and then I got a replacement deal which was nice but um then you had guys like Josh Butler, Stoy, Archer, um Hitmire that was basically the four guys that they kept on playing the whole time. So I knew I was never going to get a chance and I still want to learn about the game itself. But my outlet was then drink after every game. We saw the sun come up about seven, eight times after games. That’s what we did. And um that was that time. And yeah, it’s not like you can go out on the streets in India. Not a chance. There’s some places that you can go to, but I’ve never been out really. Um but now recently in at the sunrises, it’s basically you stay in your hotel and last year Van Moulder was with us, which was nice and he explores quite a bit. So he went out to go search a couple of disguise. I imagine he went out to go look for a couple of places and then we actually went out quite a bit and the people once they realize who you are and they actually make a lot of effort to keep people away or just to make you feel comfortable which is nice. So there’s a lot of places that you can actually go to but I don’t think nightclubs and stuff will work really. That’s going to be tough. It’s tough. you’re still enjoying playing in India and and the the I mean the IPL the buzz around it is insane. I mean the law I know KG Rob was on the show and he said it is so loud that you can’t quite explain how loud it is when you walk out there. You can’t explain it. Um I know there’s a lot of cricket fans in the world and if you’re really a cricket fan you need to go watch your IPL game. It’s it’s difficult to explain. It’s if you see one guy walk out, you can just know exactly what it is. If Donnie walks out, it’s almost you have to put your fingers in your ear to go like this is so loud. Um you can’t hear something. It’s unbelievable. And when people walk out for warm-ups and stuff, they just go crazy and it’s proper loud and it’s and everywhere everywhere you go in the hotels, everywhere you are, if you’re a superstar in that aspect, you can’t really move. You’re a superstar now though my man that I mean no let’s be honest I mean every cricket fan in India knows who you are and when every time you walk out to bat in an IPL game or whatever it is there’s an expectation uh that class is going to clean up um so I imagine from that point of view yeah it’s uh it’s loud even when you walk out there I’ve had a couple of games which just goosebumps when you go out there or when you stop pulling the trigger it comes off. Yeah. And the crowd goes crazy and they shout your name. It’s it’s a good feeling. Um it’s a feeling that you keep on chasing in the IPL, which is nice, but it comes with a lot of pressure to perform every game, which is not always possible. Yeah. Um but we learn how to deal with it. Take me to the moment you walk out, right? We’re at a playing for sunrises. It’s uh it’s it’s buzzing. Obviously, I know each situation is different, but do you have a an idea of what you’re going to do when you’re walking out and take guard, for example, check the field? I know scoreboard obviously determines a lot, but do you have sort of a a base where you work from and build or or how do you approach your innings? Yeah, at We’ve got two exciting openness with Travis. Um, so that’s normally my just relaxation to see what is possible and what is not possible because they normally just pull the trigger from ball one and then you can sim almost gauge of what is really possible. Um, if they keep pumping it, you know, it’s you can go from ball one or close to ball one as as you like. Um, but I normally give myself 10 balls. got a small formula that you want to be around about 15 16 or at least two eats away from a 200 strike rate. Um or when you’re under pressure, it’s just one heat away from being at 140 150. So, got a small game plan, but it doesn’t always work like that. But that normally keeps me calm in a situation um when you’re a little bit under pressure. Um I found it sometimes hard when those two fire and they’re going at 16 and over and then you walk in at three and then you go like Yeah, I’m struggling here. Give me 10 balls. I’m six or four here and I feel the pressure. Um but yeah, I’ve got a small blueprint that I that I work from. Um it just helps me to stay calm and if you get off to a fly, you forget about it and you just keep on going. I know they say cricket is a field game. Is that same for you? Like when you hit one and it’s in the middle and it’s a boundary like okay, I’m in the mix. Yes. And for me it’s my technique changes every day. Yeah. Um, like I said, just to get that feel, get that rhythm. Sometimes you stand the way you train and it just doesn’t feel nice. It’s um to a different bowler, you change it again. So, it’s 100% a fuel thing. And there’s a game in Kolkata two seasons ago. We were in deep trouble. I think we needed like 19 of of six overs or something like that. Um, and I felt my first five balls I I don’t know how to b I don’t know how to grip it. I changed my grip twice. I changed my stance about three, four times. And then in my eyes, it felt like 15 balls. Yeah. But I’ve hit one for six. I think if I look back at the innings, it was ball seven, but it felt like 15 balls. We lost three wickets in between. Hit one for six. Wasn’t too happy about it. He hit another one for six. Mis hit it. And then there was a third one I’ve hit for six. And then I go like, okay, you settled now. Starky was rushing me from the one end. Um, but I’ve hit that one. I felt, okay, everything clicked now. And then we actually got close. I think we lost by two runs or something like that. So, it’s just about that fuel. And the moment you can get that rhythm as quick as possible, it’s normally easier. Those wickets in India, obviously, they’re they’re definitely batter friendly. Um, but when you have got Stark and Co with gas running at you, I mean, there’s so little time to react and make a decision. I suppose that comes down to the game plan or or the field set or where you expect him to bowl, how much of it is like when a guy is at 150 clicks. I mean, I think of an archer, these guys. Um, are you kind of targeting where I I know I’m I know I’m simplifying it cuz these guys have got gas, but I’m just going like are you saying okay well doesn’t have cover over extra or fine legs up. Is that sort of going through your mind the day the delivery before type thing or in between the delivery? Del delivery. I think it’s it’s definitely pre-planned. Yeah. Um sometimes 150 at Hydrobat is not that quick. Yeah. Um, we’ve got a medium pace waker that doesn’t bounce too much. So, you’re not too worried about the one that hits you on the helmet. Um, but then when you go to Super Sport Park or Perth 150, you start moving a little bit more sideways. Um, so it’s all depend where you place and you do quite a bit of homework on it. Um, take it off face Anna quite a bit which is not like we’re friends. Um, but I know how aggressive he becomes when you hit him for a boundary. Um, but I also know he’s got a lot left in the tank. So, when you face him and you hit him for a boundary, obviously you don’t want to do it to your mate, but you need to earn a living as well. Um, you just always in the back of your mind, you know, he’s got something quick up the up his sleeve. Yeah. Um, which is not nice. But then you start thinking, okay, what are you going to do? Um, am I going to use the pace more? I’m not going to hit him over his head. Um, it’s too quick. Um, so it’s always pre-plann and well thought out. So, there’s definitely a a line or a limit where it’s too quick to be silly. Yes, definitely. Um, sometimes you just duck. Luckily, well, IPL is two bumpers in an over. Um, normally it’s one, so you just get get out of the way and then wait for something full. But sometimes it’s just too quick to get over his head. So, then you need to make a plan by helping it up or it’s all in the training. Rather you than me, mate. Um I I think also like you said you mentioned playing in Perth and these type of places. Was there ever a time when you were like oh this is very uncomfortable with the quick stuff and you’re going I just need to survive and try and get onto the other side. We’ve played a game Titans versus Knights at Super Sport Park. That’s not what I expected you to say. I was expecting you to say Australia or Netherland. We Marshand Dala just moved from the Titans to the Knights and he was very angry at the Titans and I’ve played enough cricket against Dwan Willir to know he’s quick but he’s you can handle him. The first ball of the day everyone we’ve batted first and Dean Alga was opening and hit Dean on the front pad without moving and everyone in the change room just quietened up quickly. It was dead silence in the change room. Long story short, got out to bat. Um, batted with a Henry Davidson. H is a freak when it comes to pace. Um, and I asked him how’s China looks extremely quick. The keeper standing outside the 30 yard circle catching everything above his head. Um, but how’s Dwan budding? His guy’s like, “No, it’s all right. First ball pass my ear didn’t move.” And I said to H, “Hum, this is quick.” Is that when you walk down and you This is not I went like I need to wake up here because you’re not going to get bolt. Yeah. You going to go to the hospital here? Yeah. And then second one passed me again. Didn’t move. And I went like okay. Sean’s bowling almost twice as quick. Yeah. Came out, scored a couple of runs, got comfortable. We they were we needed about 150 to be in a good position. Third innings. They pulled us out in 11 overs. They just cleaned us up. It was just too quick. Not one ball went to slip. Everything went to the keeper. Um, and that was the first day and the only day in my life that I was scared. I went like, you’re going to hospital. They’re not trying to bowl you out. They’re trying to kill you. Jesus, they were bowling rapid rapid rapid. When that happens in the change room, right, when there’s someone bowling with gas, you like you say, the change room gets quiet, right? You’re still nerves going out to bat, right? Even at this stage in your career. Yeah, it’s No, people get extremely quiet. Um, and I remember there was a game he played in Adelaide. Um, Starky was bowling quick up front, a wide ball game. Aiden and Quinny was opening and it just looked quick and Aiden picked up pull him out of nowhere for a big six and Quinny was playing him nicely and Quinny got caught in fine leg and Quinny came back and we go like Quinny it looks quick. He goes like John it’s unbelievably quick. I know I’m so good it looks slow but and then Aiden came out and says like it was ridiculous. He just premeditated everything. It was Yeah. So there’s nights that you go like okay this is there’s not a lot of time to react. You need to pre-plan something to make things happen. When you walk out to bat um obviously you know say normally three or whatever it is you’re walking out and you you know you have a look for marks in the pitch or something. you just get a bit of a read, but it’s also an opportunity to just go, listen, how’s it going here? Right. I mean, there’s a short little interaction, but all all the batter, you know, your your your batsman meets you somewhere along the way as you walk in. Right. Yeah. Normally, we just ask how’s the wicket playing? Um, is there anything that you have to really be aware of? Um, is there swing in there, nip around on the wicket? And then sometimes when you’re in trouble, you just laugh at each other and say like, “Let’s enjoy. Let’s try to find a way to also depends who you bat with. Yeah. Um I know like a fudgy um he was giving you all the information in the world every ball and sometimes you love it. Um and then I know the semi-final against Australia and Kolkata, we were in big trouble with the bat and Dave walked out and I was in the middle and I said to him, Chum, we in proper here, but um let’s just en enjoy it. it’s still a privilege and let’s see what we can do to get ourselves out of here. And then after the second we go like okay we’re feeling comfortable we can score now and as it gone on it just became a lot easier and the chats become a lot less focused on the game and just talking rubbish in the crease. I suppose that’s a good place to be when you’re talking rubbish in the crease and not saying this guy’s gas and he’s going to hurt us. Um do you have someone you really enjoy batting with? Um, I mean there must be one or two guys that when you go out to bat, I mean you mentioned the two very talented openers with with your team in the IPL, but is there someone in in your career that you really like every time you walked out you’re like, “Yeah, he’s got my back or whatever that may be.” Um, I think two guys in particular, David Miller. Um, we’ve got a fantastic record. I think we average like 60 together or something like that. Um, we always The nice thing about Dave is, you know, the power that he possesses. So when you feel a little bit under pressure and he’s running it with it, you know that he will just carry you for a little bit till you find your rhythm and similar both ways. So and then um Fudgy, I actually enjoyed batting with him. I’ve learned a lot out of his career and um the way he set up the back end and it sometimes you just know your partner so well that you know well if he hits it there it’s a single or that’s his two or things like that. So, those are two guys that I really enjoyed batting with because, you know, they will run your first couple quickly because they know you need to have a good start and um they look to get you off strike and then they know your technique. So, when you feel like you’re a little bit off, they can always help you out. Do you miss uh playing for the national team? I know that you’re retired now, but I’m sure there’s still immense pride if you look back at the games that you’ve played pulling on that green jumper, singing the national anthem. I think you will always miss it. Um, I still watch how they play and I know I can still be there, but um, I think I will always miss it. Um, but the decision I’ve made over overrites it in the sense of I’m happy with the decision I’ve made for me and my family and the way forward that I want to go with my career. Um, but I will always miss it. Um, but it’s Yeah. Yeah. I I mean I look at four test matches, 60 ODIs, uh 58 T20 international games for South Africa. I mean had you been that kid fresh out of school and went Hinrich, you’re going to play this amount of games for South Africa, you would have taken that tomorrow, right? 100%. Um I think my biggest regret is not to play or try to play more test cricket. I know I’ve had a I think I was there for about 6 years in and out of the team the whole time and never really had the opportunity. So that’s one thing that it was is sad for me. But the white stuff went good and also love fate relationship. I was always in and out till the last two years. So sometimes that makes a decision a little bit easier um because it wasn’t all just roses. Yeah. And then you walk away out of all of a sudden. So I’ve always had that love hate relationship with how my career went. But it’s um still blessed to play over 100 games for my country and um over the last two three years I’ve done extremely well and proud of what I’ve achieved there and it gave me a good platform to be where I am now. So yeah, I think that’s why people because for me, you coming in uh when playing for the national side, you would bring a calmness, but also there was this like you said with David Miller, the two of you get in there and we’re like anything is possible here. If you’re setting the total or you chasing the total, I was like these two guys are gun and anything can happen here. So I think when you announced your retirement caught a lot of people by surprise. So, I mean, is that the general feeling you got that it was a surprise call or? Yeah, 100%. I’ve walked into a lot of places and people ask me to keep playing or ask me why did why did I do why did I do it? And the moment you explain it to them, um they understand it, but they you can see the sadness in their eyes that they still want you then I in a sense I still want to be there. But, um like I said, there’s a lot of calmness about the decision. Um I will definitely miss it. I think I will miss more the interaction against other countries. Love playing against India, Australia, England, those type of um countries and made good mates in those countries. So it’s always nice to see if you can boss them on the field or um so that I will miss that challenge but um luckily all around the world now you see them still and we’re fortunate to to do that still. At Betway, we don’t just reward you for playing, we reward you for staying. Introducing Betway Rewards. Earn points on every bet you place. It’s that simple. You can also convert your points to cash whenever you like. With Bet Way, loyalty always pays off. Join the action today and start earning points. I’ll put you on the spot here. How did CSA take it when you said, “Sorry, boys. I’m going to focus on my family and on my the the the back end of my career. It’s yeah, it’s a difficult one to answer. Um I think the right personnel in CSA was a little bit shocked but obviously there’s other parts of the story as well but um yeah they didn’t really put up a fight so that made the decision even better as well. Yeah I suppose if they had said listen how do we make this better? How do we you know keep you in the mix? Because it’s not like you’re an old man. the IP alone that you bring to the mix, the the power, the fact that you can keep wicket too. Um maybe bowl a few offies here and there. Bowling is done. Bowling is done. But I but I think you would have almost hoped that they went. But hang on a second, right? Yeah, there was that. But obviously that didn’t happen. So like I said, that made the decision a lot easier. Yeah, but um I think you also need to understand where they’re coming from. um they’re happy for me to go and they’ve got a great bunch of youngsters that’s coming through now and that probably open up a spot for to ease the pressure from their side a little bit as well. So I think our cricket is still in great hands. Um like a guy like Prevy coming in Sta that’s going to start peing now in his career. Um people need to also understand that you only peak when you’re 27 to 32. That’s when you play or understand your game probably the best. And um I reckon the older you get the the better you will become. So if you keep on Ricky Stabbo um Prevy, if they’re playing the cricket that they’re playing now, I’m really looking forward to putting on the TV in four or five years time now to see what they’re really doing. No white cricket, white ball cricket for you still in 5 years time or how how long do you want to still play for? I reckon about four years. Okay. Before the next decision will be made. um see where my family is at then and what we really need to do as a family. Um but yeah, I’ve got about minimum four years left. Yeah. So there’s still a lot of cricket. It’s just for me honestly it’s about travel is too much. Yeah. Um I’m in a fortunate position that I don’t have to play all the leagues. Um, I think if you’re in a different position, I will probably still play for South Africa and you still not be unhappy, but you you pick up or you don’t really have a say of what you want to do and where you want to go. Um, I’m in a position that I can at least pick four tournaments in a year and have enough time at home and just trying to find that balance of being a professional cricketer and being a family man as well. Yeah, I think that was the hardest decision. My wife said to me, “I’m dumb and I shouldn’t retire.” She said that. Yeah. She said I was making a big mistake and um I’m How did you take that? Cuz I mean it’s this is the person you probably trust most in the world, right? It’s your it’s your best friend. Yeah. I think she just doesn’t want me to regret it. Okay. Um because she still knows I’m good enough to do it and I love playing for my country. So and it happened quickly. It it happened in 2 3 days. Yeah. that it happened from I’m available till 2027 to okay I’m done. So it was a quick decision. It wasn’t um a decision that build up for years and it was a a quick turnaround of events and um I think she was she just wanted to make sure I making the right decision and the after effect where the little one start crying and doesn’t want to travel anymore. I think that that made or made me at peace with everything I’ve decided to do. I was about to say you you come across as someone who’s at peace with where you are. You seem very happy in your skin at the moment. Um and I think obviously I’m always going to be biased and say like I’d still love to see Hrien coming in at wherever it was and doing a job for SA, but I have to respect your decision. And I think when you mention the four leagues, I assume IPL is is number one. That’s the big one. Uh we got Bedway SA 20 as as another one. Um and then the other two like for you is is 100 100 hopefully for the next couple of years. And then I would the biggest challenge for me I think going into my career now or the back end of my career is um the gap between let’s say the 100 and SA 20. Yeah. So what can I do to still be the best in the world? I don’t want to go from being one of the best players in the world to just he was good, you know, I still want to dominate those four leagues or three leagues or whatever I want the amount of cricket I want to play. People still need to go like why am I not playing more cricket and more cricket. So I probably will play then for the Titans. Okay. Find a bracket where I can play for the Titans. Um they’ve been a franchise well my whole career. So straight out of school, right? straight well 20 well three years after school. Three years after school um but they were there for me when I was hitting rock bottom um helped me financially um with a couple of operations and stuff like that. So I’ve got a lot of love. I probably will play my last cricket game for them and at Super Sport Park. So that’s a place that I will always try to give back to and um so I will probably play three leagues plus a a competition for them just to make sure that I’m and I won’t use it as warm-ups. It will be you still want to win trophies for them. So um but I need to play some sort of cricket this year. Luckily it’s fortunate enough that SA20 is a little bit earlier. Yeah. But from next year again it’s middle Jan. So that will be a big break from August to then to Do you keep that intensity straight up? So I think there’s a few bowlers now have pulled hamstrings when they heard you coming to play for the Titans. So um yeah, it’s interesting you say that. I think everyone looks at professional cricketers and goes, “Oh, what a dream life.” And yes, it’s a privilege to play and earn dollars and and be able to be paid to do something you love. But you mentioned there were dark times, too. I mean, injuries, you know, having to go through operations. I mean, that’s not an easy place to be. that as well. And I think it’s a cutthroat sport as well. Um, one year we don’t have job security. That’s the one thing we don’t have. Um, if you have a bad season, you’re gone. It’s especially in leagues. So, at the title or domestic cricket, I don’t think you can earn enough to make a good living. You will always have to do something else or work as well. Yeah. So, there’s no job security. And for me, out of my career, I’ve missed about two funerals of my family. I’ve missed all my best of three weddings of my best mates. Um, my wife’s dad had a heart attack. We went here. Um, her grandfather had a heart attack, we went here. We were across the world in America. Um, so there’s a lot of sacrifices that we do and or make to live this life. And um I can tell you now it’s not glamorous because when you go out for three ducks or you haven’t had four scores under the belt, your hotel room becomes really lonely. The the team environment becomes really lonely. So and I’m not saying it’s a bad environment as a team because the team is also everywhere I’m playing now, the environment is fantastic. But you still want that feeling of okay, I can play or and when you hit that dips, you’re only human to to feel like am I still good enough to be there or not? So it’s a it’s a tough place being away from home the whole time and you don’t see your family, you don’t see mom, dad and all those type of things and I think the hardest thing is for me taking my wife is very close with her family um to take her away from seeing them every day or which is tough sometimes but um we know we can only do it for a certain amount of times and I feel like to find that balance of okay my wife also got a decision in my career it sounds very unpopular And people say like it’s your career and but um I feel like speaking to my wife to know okay where we at how many tours can you do um because I don’t want to travel alone and miss out on life with them. So especially now with with a young one and one on the way you want to be part of that. Tell me about that mental side of it because I imagine getting a duck is firstly it’s not fun. Um, but when you do feel like you’re out of form, how do you kind of hit that reset button? Is it purely the amount of balls you’re facing? Is it I need to tweak something? Because a lot of batters, I assume, would try and almost overthink it sometimes as opposed to maybe just going back to basics and what made them successful in the first place. I think the younger me would say to you is like change everything and and and find ways to score runs and but don’t change your template of playing. But the older me will say like trust the process that you’ve been doing and that’s been giving you runs and maybe add one or two things or take one or two things away and then lower the risk and change on template a little bit to make sure that you spend enough time in the crease at a good tempo. Yeah, spend enough time at the crease to find rhythm because it’s two, three shots, you find that rhythm and it all comes back to you. So for me, it’s at this moment if I go through a little bit of a dip is I’ve got a couple of drills that I need to do. Make sure that’s intact and I’m hitting it nicely. And then just lower my risk, keep the ball a little bit more on the ground, find different ways of scoring. Um, maybe put bag number A that’s been working for the last three, four years nicely, put it at the side and bring bag B back and lap a little bit more, reverse sweep or do other things. Um, you’ve got all the options. It’s just to find, okay, these options are not working. Let’s just try find some rhythm in the crease and once you’ve open your eyes again, the rhythm is back and you can bring back whatever you need to bring back. Do you you don’t play with weights, do you with your bat weights at all? I mean, do you kind of stick with one or is it dependent on where you’re playing in the world that you need something a little bit lighter or a little bit heavier? Normally, you will I’m fortunate enough that I’m with a brand that they can fix everything for you. So, I was at a stage in my career now over the last three years that I’ve have on a little bit of a heavier side. Um because majority of the time the bumper you just leave it alone and you wait till you’re at 50 60 and then you’re in and then you pick it up a little bit more. But last last season I’ve had a shoulder tear and then I can feel like okay there’s a big I can’t swing the bat as quickly as I want to. So I’m going back to lighter bats now. Um think I’m getting older as well. So I mean the wear and tear alone we were speaking about it. It’s keeping wickets. It’s batting for long times. It’s It all takes shots. Your body takes shots. Yeah. So, we playing around with us. Albby actually came to me and said like, “Do we play really around with your weights of the bats?” Um so, we investigating that and go back to lighter bats to get a little bit more hand speed and um just the right things to do. And then um say especially in South Africa, you need some light bats to get that hand speed. In India, sometimes you do need that heavier bat that um hits a little bit lower on the bat to have that extra weight to get it out. So, play around with it. I’ve got a couple of heavy ones still in the bathroom. So, heavy duty gun. Yeah. Um I’ve got to ask you, you mentioned Albi and and what an incredible servant he’s been to the game and how much he’s giving back now as a coach. Um, would you like to see more sort of former players getting involved, especially the guys that have like because there’s guys who can coach and there’s guys who can’t? Um, there’s there’s and and I think cricketers will admit that they either want to coach and they want to give back or they’re quite happy saying, “Cool, that chapter’s done.” I think there’s more cricketers than what people realize that’s willing to give back or at least working with someone that doesn’t know about it. Um and the knowledge they possess is unbelievable. Um we’re fortunate enough to have Albby with us. Um you see the Lions, they’ve got a powerhouse coaching staff there. Um so there’s a lot of cricketers I think cricket South Africa start getting it right of getting more ex players in involved. Um, I think as a coach learning out of a handbook and not necessarily play the game or coach at least at the highest level without you can see there’s some guys that just you believe him till the end. Yeah. Um, and for I remember when Bai came in to coach the Titans, you believe everything he said because he played 147 tests for South Africa, played for 20 years. So, you know, he’s been through everything. Everything that you can think of, he’s probably been through or seen it with the best of the best. So, whatever came out of the mouth, everyone just like it’s gospel. It’s exactly. So, um it’s nice to have the ex players because sometimes I feel like you can they can relate to your problems and how you feel and sometimes they just call you on the nonsense. Um I know you think you feel like the way but you’re better than that or you can do this better. where some of the coaches out of the handbook, they don’t pick up those small things that you’ve been through or those type of things. So hopefully there’s more involvement of ex cricketers, but I know for a fact that there’s a lot of ex cricketers that’s involved behind the behind the scenes. Is coaching something you would look at at some point? I mean, I know it’s still early doors, but must be somewhere in the back of your mind after cricket what you’re going to do if we can take the travels out. Um, I would like to do some consultancy work. Okay. Um I don’t think I will ever be a head coach or I love the batting side of it. Um especially now when I throw it to some of the guys and we find something that works for them. It’s it’s actually very nice and I can spend a lot of time in in in that um role. But for me it’s all about travel. Try to cut away from being away from home in Ptoria or um the family always travels with. So it’s not take not going away from them. It’s just you want to be in your own bed, in your own house, sit on your couch and bri when you want to bri or just do what you want to do. Bri is important. That’s very important. Um when when I look at you mentioned Brevis Stubs, uh Andre Ptorius, Quinnapaka, there’s some proper youngsters coming through the mix now and I think if I look at the way these guys are playing, they’re incredibly mature for guys who are still very young in their careers. cuz I know Tristan Stubs has obviously played a little bit longer now, but he’s still not uh he’s not a a seasoned campaigner with all due respect in the world. He’s not, you know, played 100 tests or anything like that, but what makes them so exciting for you as someone who’s seen them up close. You’ll probably play with them in there, say 20 um a lot of the time or against them, titans, you you’ve exposed to, you know, two of the most exciting talents that we have at the moment. I think the fearlessness that these youngsters comes with these days. Um they want to play for South Africa when they’re 19. Um back in when I got out of school, it’s like I just want to play for Northern. If I can get there, I’m happy, you know. Um but they also take the game on. Doesn’t matter who’s there or who’s bowling at them, they ready from ball one. Um I think the biggest thing or the biggest challenge for them is who’s their mentors in the in the team environment. Obviously they’ve got their own experts outside of cricket um or outside of the group but those guys that’s there for five 6 years or even 10 12 years those guys they really need to look into them and how their career has been planned out and how it works and just try to feed off them and the mentors obviously need to look after them when they go out of hand. Yeah, you got to pull them back very quickly and as long as you have the right people that looks after you and to call you on the nonsense you um causes or um and and when you do well to give them enough love but not to spoon feed them and they keep looking after those spaces um our cricket will be in fantastic hands and knowing that there’s a lot of our great players that like we forgot about Marco Jansen he’s I think 25 I think so Um he’s also the Titans. Yes, he’s he moved there this season. So there’s a lot of guys that played enough cricket that knows what it what requires to be on top of the world. Yeah. Um and they can give all that experience and mentor those young guys to go like okay hold on you get too big for your shoes now. Just pipe down a little bit and humble yourself a little bit of or now you need to run with it. Just make sure that you do the right thing. So cricket in our country will be in a good space. You’ve as someone who’s played over 100 times for SA and I mean hundreds of other first class games. You can see when someone’s got something right within one or two shots or the way they deliver the ball or the keeper potentially takes a catch, right? You can see straight away there’s something there. Um what is that? Is it that X factor? I mean is it something you pick up? Is it the way they hit the ball or you know cuz you can tell straight away that there’s something there. I think from a it’s easier from a batting point of view. Um there’s two or if you take Stabo, Ricky, Bri, um I haven’t Leandre I’ve seen it quite a bit and Donovan those five guys if they hit the ball well it sounds completely different. Okay. It just sounds completely different to any other batter out there. Um, it’s proper gunshot. Um, listen, if you can pick it up on on TV, you can even hear that when PV hits it or when Ricky it’s a nice straight drive, when they hit it, you know it’s been hit. Um, where if you look at some domestic players when it hits, you go like, okay, it’s it doesn’t like put fear into a bowler’s eyes or if they know, okay, if I miss again, I’m going again. So that’s the one thing from a batting point of view that you can pick up when when a youngster hits the ball and it just sounds completely different. Um you know he’s got something special and then some innings like or the beta 20 exposed that quite a bit that if you take um Delana Poriter as another great example that there’s some innings as he played it might be a 20 of nine balls but that’s proper X factor. Um people don’t see the eyes 20 of nine but that’s sometimes the winning moment not the guy that got 70 or 45 balls so there’s a lot of X factor in our country um and I think the bet where XJ20 exposes that quite big and that’s you can see around the world a lot of there’s more South Africans that’s been playing around the world which is when you report for I suppose not camp but the first sort of training sessions for IPL and you get there and you look around there’s tons of net bowlers in India And I watch IPL and I think where did this kid come from or there just seems an abundance of talent. Is that the is that the feeling that there’s just this pipeline of talent coming through the ranks? It’s it’s scary how many of those players there are. I remember first year IPL myself Darcy Short had a great hit in the nets and then his leggy came up and he cleaned us up and we couldn’t play him. Um he didn’t play the first game so I went up to him and said like why are you not playing? is just like he’s the third string keeper. So, he’s not see he’s not playing. He’s not even um there to to bowl. He’s just mcking around in the nets and having fun. Um and we couldn’t pick him. We couldn’t play him. And then last year at the IPL as well, one of our net bowlers, um a very tiny left arm leg spin bowler. Um they or he just bled in a net size and he wanted to bowl to me the whole time. and I face enough left arm leggies in my life. Um, but I just couldn’t hit him. every time I’ve hit one and then the next one he just toss up slower or he goes wide and at the stage I just wanted to go come B to my I need to hit you know I just struggled the whole time and um nice to see that he’s actually doing very well in his domestic comp and um I think he will go for some bucks in the next auction but there’s too many guys and all the net pilots just want to get you out so they bring the aame they know that it’s trials for them as well if they do well they can get picked up or drafted straight straight away. So I remember we’ve had one of our net pilots got drafted for the IPL halfway through the comp. So as a replacement so they know it’s their whole life they know that um if there’s an opportunity for them and they travel miles and miles to just come b you in the nets. It’s not like they staying in Jober and come bowl in Ptoria. They they get a bus or train from Cape Town to Ptoria to bowl for three hours and get back. So, um they know that’s their life. Got a few more questions just before we wrap up. Hen, thanks for making time. Um when it comes to SA20 playing in a tournament like that on South African soil and having international stars, it’s it’s a really it seems to have really worked because we’re getting packed crowds. The cricket content is incredible. what you guys produce on the on the fields with batten balls is something else. Give me an idea of what’s it like being involved in the tournament and and just sort of I suppose you know I know you’re not sleeping your own bed but Ptoria is not far away from Quebec or Cape Town or wherever it is right it’s been an incredible journey I think for the first three years um the first year you went like are we going to get really enough spectators to make this thing work? Um we’ve tried it a couple of times um with Spartans, right? Spartans um what Mansi League got um so we’ve tried it and you know you get your certain place that’s always full and this just kicked off. Um and you can see the excitement on people’s faces on kids faces and you can see they actually want to play cricket girls you name it. Um and Durban all due respect the last five years it’s never been full. Now it’s full. It’s pumping. It is full and all due respect, Durban Super Giants had one good season out of three. The rest we were dead average. Yeah. Um but it’s just they’re coming out, it’s raining, it’s they still there and it’s jam-packed. So Graeme and the guys done an incredible job to to do it for 3 years and um you’re always thinking what’s next year going to hold for us? What’s next year going to hold for us and is it going to get better? Um yes, the wickets might not been great last year, but the crowd was still there. um they enjoy it. They’re excited for this year. It’s prime time in holiday season. So, I hope people buy their tickets soon enough or early enough. So, yes. So, yeah, it’s exciting. Um if you walk out the branding in the hotels, it’s I know the hotel we staying in Durban, they always put a condensed mucky in my room when we get there and that’s I know they have a bit of a sweet tooth. Yes, I do. So, the people is just lovely. um especially over that time of the year. Um and for me honestly, it’s probably the second toughest tournament in the world. Okay. Um the quality of cricket is just you can’t you can’t rock up and think you’re going to win a game. You got to play at 90% 85% to compete. Not to win a game to compete. And if you don’t if you’re not there, people just walk over you. So, and everyone’s got their own advantage, which normally you don’t think it will happen, but they do. The crowd is just they play that extra player which is unbelievable. This year’s competition starts 26th December. What does success look like for you? I think for me in any competition that I go into is you need to make the playoffs. If you’re not making the playoffs, it’s not the season that you want it. Um it’s sometimes very tough to win tournaments. So you can’t always say you need to win the trophy to be successful. Um, but if you play playoff cricket, at least you’ve had a great campaign to get to where you need to be. So, get to playoffs. Anything happens in the playoffs, you need guys that is informed. Um, been two years that we had a great team on paper, but we haven’t delivered. So, for me, if we can get to the playoffs, at least we know that we delivered. And, um, if we can hoist a trophy, we’ve got the captain that’s been there three times. So, um, no pressure, Aiden. But um yes, no, for me it’s just as long as we can get to the playoffs, it’s it will be a good season. Last one as someone who still holds the record for the highest amount retained in the IPL. What’s your advice to young players? You made a very good point like guys coming through the ranks now at 19 want to play for South Africa. So the world is constantly seeing what talent South Africa is producing and and there’s big leagues willing to snap these people up. Um what is your advice to young cricketers who are in a fortunate position that they can be picked up or um at least considered for something like the Indian Premier League? I think be patient, be yourself. I know everyone wants everything now. It needs to happen now. But for me, it only happened at 34. So um if you take Mikey, it happened at 2830 for him. So it doesn’t have to happen now. Just be yourself, be humble, I think. and be consistent as you can. And then if you look at after your performances on the field because that’s at the end of the day all that matters if you perform the the off offfield stuff will happen automatically and then that’s the easiest way to do it. But if you worry about the offfield stuff, it’s not going to come. Um just focus on the cricket, score runs, take wickets, control what you can control. And for me, the other thing is just stay consistent. If you do bad, if you do well, you can’t you have to be the same guy. You can’t go up and down. That doesn’t really work. Henrik, thanks for making time. I really appreciate it. Thanks for adding to the ginger quotota. I mean, two gingers in the studio. I think we should call that a show. Um, but thanks for making time. Uh, all the best with the the second one that’s on the way and um have a wonderful festive season and can’t wait to see you in action in the Betwa 20. Thank you for having it. It was awesome. Thank you. Thank you.