Sunrisers Hyderabad's Heinrich Klaasen has show he may get more runs if promoted up the order in the IPL. | AFP
Image: Noah Seelam / AFP
The 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League is nearing a month since the first ball of the season was bowled at Eden Gardens. Many South African players are yet to feature in the glitz and glam of this season, including the young fast bowlers Kwena Maphaka and Gerald Coetzee, and batters Matthew Breetzke and Donovan Ferreira.
Former Proteas captains Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock, all-rounder Wiaan Mulder, and batters David Miller and Tristan Stubbs have all featured so far this season.
Carrying the country's flag high in the tournament so far this season has been Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram, as we review their highlights.
Aiden Markram
Since arriving in his new team, the Lucknow Super Giants, Markram has been promoted up the order to open the batting, a role he played early on in his career only to be shifted down the order when he lacked form as an opener. The Super Giants have somehow managed to get him firing in that position, and the South African finds himself in the top 20 of the current leading run-scorers in the tournament.
The 30-year-old has accumulated 208 runs in seven matches and has reached the half-century mark twice thus far, as he has often helped the Super Giants get off to a good start in the first powerplay.
The right-handed batter has been scoring at an impressive rate of 150.72 in the IPL this season, which beats his career strike rate of 132.32.
Heinrich Klaasen
If one were to take a glance at the current leading run-scorers in the Indian Premier League this season, they would not find Klaasen's name in the top 20.
However, judging his returns this season, that would not be wise nor fair as the South African batter plays a completely different role for the Sunrisers Hyderabad as Aiden Markram does for the Lucknow Super Giants.
Klaasen, as a specialist middle-order batter, gets very little time at the crease, coming in to bat at number five in the batting order. His performances get judged on his strike rates.
The 32-year-old has batted six times this season, and only once did he not strike at 150.
Due to his impressive returns, the Sunrisers Hyderabad brainstrust is starting to entertain the idea of promoting him up the order as was evident in their last fixture against Punjab Kings, where the South African came in to bat at three and finished unbeaten on a 14-ball 21 runs, helping his side win the match.
The group stages of the Indian Premier League will run until the 18th of May, and the South Africans will get more chances to showcase their skills among the world's best T20 cricketers.