IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals wants Heinrich Klaasen as replacement for Steve Smith. Klaasen was allready on the radar of many franchises after his good show in recently concluded limited overs series against India. The verdict comes after former Australian captain Smith was barred from playing in the 2018 IPL due to his main plot in the controversial ball-tampering incident that took place on third day of Third test in Cape Town. The Rajasthan franchise has sent a request to the BCCI for approving the Protea batsman as a replacement player.
Rajasthan Royals’ head of cricket, Zubin Bharucha is prompted that the South African is the man they wanted to rope in as a replacement.
“Our aim was to get someone who can play spin well because we are pretty sure that spinners will have a big role to play during the IPL. Klaasen is an amazing player of spin. And he has a vast array of shots, which tempted us to go for him. He plays the reverse sweep very well, something that will be quite useful in the IPL,” Bharucha told TOI
“His strategy against them was just amazing. Smith will be back with us next year and we did not want to end up with two similar players. Our idea was to build the team keeping three years in mind. Even after Smith is back, Klaasen will be very useful for us,” he added.
Bharucha admitted that the way Klaasen handled Indian spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav at the South Africa tour, tilted the scale in his favour. “His strategy against them was just amazing,” Bharucha said.
If RR manage to get the services of Klaasen, he will be the third wicket-keeper batsman in the team after Jos Butler and Sanju Samson.
