New Delhi, April 7 (IANS) Sunrisers Hyderabad big-hitting batter Heinrich Klaasen has lavished praise on skipper Ishan Kishan, calling him a superb captain and adding the way the side responds to the young wicketkeeper-batter has been ‘just phenomenal’, apart from his calmness in decision making and willingness to lean on experienced players in the set-up.
Kishan was named as SRH’s interim captain due to regular skipper Pat Cummins being unavailable for the initial part owing to his recovery from a lumbar stress issue. Under him, SRH have won one match while losing two games and are at fifth place on the points table.
“Look, I think he’s been superb so far. He’s a guy who does ask for advice. Like I said, we’ve got a lot of experience in the change room. So he leans on that as well. But his decision-making, the way he changes the bowlers, the way the team listens to him is just phenomenal so far.
“So like I said, we’re in superb hands, and he’s luckily not an arrogant guy at all, which makes it a lot easier. He’s a really enjoyable captain to play under. So there’s a lot of jokes in between to make it not so serious, because I think this environment can really be a tough environment to play under.
“I think he’s been superb, and he had some success in the domestic scene as well. I think his domestic team won a competition (Jharkhand won Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy under his captaincy). So there’s a lot of experience in that aspect. But so far, I really do enjoy his captaincy, and he’s been incredible so far,” said Klaasen, while replying to a query from IANS in the JioStar Press Room ahead of IPL 2026 Rivalry Week.
Despite SRH losing two games this season, Klaasen said his own form – 145 runs in three games, including two half-centuries – have given him personal satisfaction, particularly given his limited game time after retiring from international cricket and playing only franchise T20 leagues.
“Unfortunately, we’ve lost two games. But on a personal note, it’s been a good start, especially because one of my biggest concerns is not playing as much cricket as I used to. Also, it’s to see if I can still keep up with the standard that I set myself with. So, pretty good start for me, and hopefully this form will continue,” he said.
After playing against Punjab Kings in New Chandigarh, 2016 IPL champions SRH will play three games on the trot at their home venue against Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals.
The clash against CSK, the five-time champions who are yet to get off the mark in the points table, will be of huge interest and Klaasen acknowledged the fixture carries added significance.
“Look, it’s always fun playing against them, and knowing that our owners are also coming from Chennai, they do put an emphasis on that we need to win over them or beat them. So there will always be added pressure on that game, but it’s still a good game.
“All the teams that you have to play in the IPL, you have to be at your best and put your best performance in the game. So hopefully we can get that little bit of momentum going into the next game and then face Chennai back home.
“The wicket hopefully will be a little bit better, and then if we can get one over them going into their home ground, I think we should be in a good position to take them down this season,” he elaborated.
Klaasen also talked about the tactical challenge of facing spinners from opposition teams who have clearly studied his game closely. “The boundaries are not the biggest in the world. We’re used to some big boundaries as well. But the wickets are fantastic. So, it’s a nice place to come back in.
“But it’s still a big challenge. I know they’re coming for me and they know I’m coming for them. I see this season they’ve got a couple of game plans. So, I need to get back on to doing some good homework against them and finding new ways of scoring against them,” he said.
On the toughest spinner he’s faced in his IPL career, Klaasen named senior leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal without any hesitation. “It’s an easy answer – Yuzi Chahal. We’ve come a long way. We’ve had some great battles over the last couple of years, especially in my career.
“He’s a quality bowler, a very clever bowler. I think we’re about 50-50 on winning those battles. He’s a good mate of mine as well, so it makes it even better just to fight against him on the pitch,” he said.
The hard-hitting batter signed off by calling the IPL the pinnacle competition in franchise T20 cricket. “It’s by far the toughest franchise cricket competition that there is. I feel sometimes it’s tougher than international cricket. It also depends on who you play. But the standard of cricket and obviously the conditions play a big part of it.
“Every year you just see a new Indian player coming out that you never know about, and you just keep on producing the goods. So the talent that they’ve got, it just sets the standard so high.
“So by far the best competition in the world. There are maybe a couple of tournaments that are striving to get to this standard. But it’s tough to play in this competition. You have to be at your best to perform on this level.”
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–IANS
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