Klaasen rued that matters would be done and dusted by Friday, and there was no possible tie-breaker (should they win to level 2-2 that is). (Reuters)
In the anger-stage of coping with grief of losing the third T20I to India by 11 runs, Heinrich Klaasen would lash out cold-glintedly. “It was a fantastic pitch, but we got out to half-trackers,” he was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. “Which makes you want to almost… Yeah, you want to break stuff,” he said.
Both Klaasen and captain Aiden Markram looked seething post their dismissals – and even when they missed bludgeonibg those said half trackers. But a sword of helplessness limps over their heads, given the best possible result from here, with the last match at Wanderers is at best, a 2-2.
He rued that matters would be done and dusted by Friday, and there was no possible tie-breaker (should they win to level 2-2 that is), a smashing Sunday, penned into the itinerary.
“That’s the nature of where we are in South African cricket,” Klaasen bristlesd. “We don’t play any more five-match series. Our Test team are playing two-Test series, which is ridiculous. How nice would it be if we win on Friday, and Sunday is another game that we’re going into at two-all?” he morose away.
“It’s disappointing and it doesn’t sit well with the players because we want to play more cricket against these guys and other countries. But we always find a way to just play two or three games and it’s annoying,” Klaasen added.
It was doubly infuriating when compared to their opponents – not just sitting pretty at 2-1 in the T20I series, but with attention on them split across two continents, with many stars readying for the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. “Then you see India are playing on Friday in two different sides of the world,” Klaasen clipped away.
He was glad post the Wednesday loss, for the short turnaround time though, which would ensure him and his team, stayed itchy to win, and in the zone.
“But it is what it is and we have to make sure that we don’t lose the series. There’s no time to dwell on this. We will make small tweaks and plan. It’s good that the next game is in two days. If you’re in good form or bad form, everything happens quickly and you can just move on,” he said.
Klaasen also came to the rescue of his struggling skipper, with Markram’s 23rd straight T20I innings, without reaching 50. Klaasen’s last 20 outings in T20Is had only one 50, but he empathised with the captain’s angry reaction where he smashed bat into the ground like Hulk pulping Loki.
“It happens in the heat of the moment,” hecwas quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. “If I put your career on the table and I say if you make one mistake that’s [the end of] it, you will be frustrated if you make a mistake. It’s not at all that serious in Aiden’s case, but people need to understand that that’s what we go through. You’re trying to play for your country, and a billion people are going to be on your head if you fail,” he said.
The post-loss glumness extended to him seeing no sunshine even after being IPL’s highest retention earner for Rs 23 crore. In his dim view of things, understandable after a loss, he moped and found uncertainty in that bright future too. “That money is not even close to my bank account yet, so anything can happen,” Cricbuzz quoted Klaasen as saying.
Ain’t no sunshine when the Proteas have lost, indeed.
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