South African wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen has been confirmed as the replacement for Steve Smith in Rajasthan Royals’ squad for the 11th season of the IPL starting April 7. Smith had last week stepped down as captain of Rajasthan Royals following the ball-tampering controversy that broke in Cape Town, and then had his IPL contract torn up once Cricket Australia suspended him for 12 months.
A BCCI statement confirmed that Klaasen, 26, has been purchased by Rajasthan for his base price of Rs 50,00,000 having been overlooked during the player auction in January. This will be his first stint with an IPL franchise.
In 49 career T20s, Klaasen has scored 1,043 runs at a strike-rate of 146.28, with six fifties. He has 28 catches and 12 stumpings too. He made his T20I debut against India in February and was Man of the Match in his second game, scoring 69 off 30 balls as South Africa chased down India’s total of 188 with six wickets and eight balls remaining.
Smith had been a key figure for Rajasthan Royals before the franchise was suspended for two years following the spot-fixing scandal of 2013. In the interim, he played for Rising Pune Supergiant and last year led the franchise to the IPL final where they narrowly lost to Mumbai Indians.
