Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Sunrisers Hyderabad star Heinrich Klaasen delivered both with the bat and at the press conference, making it clear he is unfazed by criticism around his scoring tempo in IPL 2026. Klaasen’s composed 59 off 39 balls proved decisive as SRH posted 194/9 and edged past Chennai Super Kings by 10 runs in a tightly contested encounter.Despite leading the run charts this season, Klaasen’s strike rate has dipped compared to last year, drawing scrutiny. But the South African batter dismissed the noise, stressing that match awareness matters more than numbers. “I’ve been in difficult situations, and you have to take responsibility and be mature about it. You can’t just tee off—that’s not how the game works. We get paid to do the job, and I don’t care about strike rate,” Klaasen said, underlining his approach of adapting to conditions and building meaningful innings.‘You can’t just tee off’: Klaasen explains his approachKlaasen elaborated that his role often demands stability rather than outright aggression, especially when early wickets fall. “I know there’s been a lot said about my strike rate this season, but I’ve been putting the team in good positions. I’m just doing my job,” he said. Highlighting the challenges, he added that situations like losing multiple wickets quickly force him to rein in his natural attacking instincts. “It’s not that I can just tee off. If you lose another wicket, you’re five down. So, it’s about finding different ways of scoring 10 runs an over and still getting a good score on the board.”His innings came on a slow surface, where SRH were just 30 at the end of the powerplay, further explaining the measured approach. Klaasen’s knock, alongside a blistering 59 off 22 from Abhishek Sharma, laid the foundation for a competitive total, even as bowlers like Jamie Overton and Anshul Kamboj kept CSK in the contest.In reply, CSK threatened through contributions from Ayush Mhatre, Matthew Short and Sarfaraz Khan, but SRH’s bowlers, led by Eshan Malinga and Nitish Kumar Reddy, held their nerve at the death.The win lifted SRH to fourth on the table, reinforcing Klaasen’s point—impact matters more than optics.
