Heinrich Klaasen surprised many by retiring from international cricket recently, even though many believed he still had a lot to offer for South Africa on the big stage. Instead, Klaasen decided to focus more on playing in franchise T20 leagues around the world.
Klaasen has been quite successful with his technique and creativity in T20 cricket. But he finds bowling from a top player like Jasprit Bumrah very challenging, especially in the shortest format where batters need to score quickly and can’t afford to wait long. Bumrah’s precise bowling makes it hard for Klaasen to hit him well.
Klaasen told Cricbuzz, “My technique changes a lot when I face Bumrah. You try to open up the field because he has many tricks and rarely makes mistakes. He bowls fast and has a slippery style. You want to hit certain areas, but you also have to watch out for his slower balls. I wouldn’t say he’s the toughest bowler to face, but he’s definitely one of the hardest to score runs off. His bowling action is unusual.”
He added, “I’m lucky I don’t have to face him with a new ball, which is a different challenge. With the older ball, he changes his angles a lot, mostly bowling into the batsmen, and he rarely misses his line. You have to be alert and ready to take advantage whenever he makes a mistake, but he hardly ever does.”
The wicketkeeper-batsman explained how Bumrah’s unusual bowling style creates a different angle, especially for right-handed batsmen. Even though Bumrah bowls from the other side of the wicket, his wide and open-chest action forces batsmen to change their shots. Klaasen said Bumrah’s style helps him swing the ball inward, similar to how Australia’s left-arm bowler Mitchell Starc swings the ball to right-handers.
He added, “The angle Bumrah creates at the crease is quite wide. It’s like when Starc comes around and makes the ball swing away with reverse swing. Bumrah’s action makes a big change in the angle for right-handers.”
