When Heinrich Klaasen is sitting in the Sunrisers Hyderabad dugout there’s a phase when he exudes a particularly relaxed air. That’s when openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head are batting together, when most viewers are at the edge of their seats.
But it’s the period when the South African picks up clues on how to go about when his turn comes. “If they keep pumping, you can go from ball one,” he says.
However, when Klaasen is in the middle, he tends to drift away from it and rely on a blueprint he has prepared while working with former South Africa all-rounder Albie Morkel.
That blueprint is all about giving himself 10 deliveries or so, not to get the hang of conditions, but to find his tempo – the key ingredient in his batting – then the bat-swing and the hip position.
“Those two (Head and Abhishek) go at 16 an over and then you are walking at 3 and struggling. I’m 6 off 4 and feel pressure. Then I go to that blue print,” Klaasen explains in the Sias du Plessis show.
In those 10 deliveries, he ensures a couple of boxes are ticked.
“It is all about getting off strike and taking the pressure off. Dot balls in this format just kills you. It puts you under a lot of pressure,” he says.
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There is another important factor he keeps an eye on. “When you are at it, ensure you are two hits away from a 200 strike rate. Or if you are under pressure, it is just one hit away from being at 140-150. That’s a small game plan, but it keeps me calm.”
There’s a game in Kolkata a couple of years ago that Klaasen recalls. It was a rare evening when every element he lists out went missing when he walked in with Hyderabad needing around 90 off six overs “In the first five balls, I felt like I didn’t know how to bat. I changed my grip twice. I changed my stance three-four times,” he says.
But he doesn’t panic because “My technique changes every day, just to get that rhythm and feel. Sometimes, you stand the way you train and it just doesn’t feel nice. You change it again. So it’s 100 percent a feel thing.”
It is these small elements that make Klaasen one of the most destructive batsmen. In a Sunrisers batting line-up that’s not short on firepower, it is the 34-year-old who is the backbone. An early collapse, losing way in the middle, or in need of a strong finish – whatever the situation, it’s Klaasen who they dial for help.
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Keeping it simple
On Wednesday at the Wankhede when they lost three wickets in the space of six deliveries, Mumbai Indians sniffed a comeback. But Klaasen, with an unbeaten 65 off 30 ensured the chase of 244 was done and dusted with eight deliveries to spare.
In the middle, Klaasen’s approach is simplified. It is a process that he has worked a lot on with Morkel. It starts with finding the position at the crease, from where he can get the bat swing right every time. All of this means, unlike most other power-hitters, Klaasen doesn’t go deep in the crease or crouch low to get the elevation.
“It is about bat swing,” he tells Kumar Sangakkara in Sky Cricket Masterclass. “It is just about low full tosses, basically from shin height to all the way up. Hit a couple of them, when it feels good, go to the extreme – how hard you can hit it. For me, it’s about working on the crease line, almost trying to hit a slog-sweep every time. That will give you elevation. you don’t have to go deep for it every time. It’s your back knee just staying there and then you finding your swing path to create your angle.”
Having chosen to play from the crease, Klaasen doesn’t rely much on bat-speed or footwork. Like most power-hitters, he seldom charges down, but even here he prefers to work around his strengths. It is where Morkel puts a lot of emphasis on.
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“We work on trying to stay as neutral as possible. And then for me, your left leg needs to get out of your way. If it’s nice and full, it gets your hands the freedom to go. And it is short, you can still anchor it and hit. I base the majority of my weight on my back leg. That’s my anchor position and that’s where all the power comes from. And then just keep my hip connected.”
Having retired from international cricket, Klasen is a globetrotting T20 batsman these days. While the call to leave the Proteas set-up wasn’t easy, particularly when he was at his peak, the IPL gives him a high. There is more responsibility. More expectations.
“When you walk in and they start chanting your name, I get goosebumps. And when you start pulling it off, the crowd goes crazy. It is a good feeling that you keep on chasing in the IPL. It comes with a lot of pressure. It’s not possible in all the games. But it’s what you play for.”
