South African hitter Heinrich Klaasen will not participate in the 2024 Caribbean Premier League, which starts on Thursday. The wicketkeeper-batter has withdrawn from the competition due to a family emergency. Klaasen, a top South African middle-order batter, will be a significant loss for the St Lucia Kings, who signed him in June ahead of the CPL draft.
Replacement for Klaasen
To fill Klaasen’s spot, the St Lucia Kings have signed New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert. Seifert, who previously played for Trinbago Knight Riders and won the title with them in 2020, will step in for Klaasen.
Klaasen’s recent performance
During the 2022 CPL season, Klaasen was part of the Guyana Amazon Warriors. He scored 118 runs in five matches at a strike rate of 137. Since then, he has played 82 T20s, scoring 2,293 runs at a strike rate of 169, including two centuries and 16 fifties.
Other team adjustments
The Knight Riders have also made a change, bringing USA’s Andries Gous on board as a temporary replacement. Gous, the seventh-highest scorer at the T20 World Cup earlier this year, will substitute for Australia’s Tim David, who will join the team after their first four matches of the season.
The Barbados Royals needed short-term replacements with David Miller and Keshav Maharaj unavailable for the first two matches due to the Cricket South Africa awards function on September 5. They have brought in Sri Lankan allrounder Dunith Wellalage, who impressed in the recent ODI series against India, and Caribbean player Shamarh Brooks.
Sikandar Raza’s withdrawal
Zimbabwe allrounder Sikandar Raza has withdrawn from the CPL due to an injury. He announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he would miss the entire tournament. The St Kitts and Nevis Patriots have yet to name a replacement.
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