South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.
Hours after Australia's Glenn Maxwell announced his ODI retirement, Klaasen, the 33-year-old South African middle-order batter, quit international cricket, calling it "a very difficult decision", but also one he has made "absolute peace" with.
Klaasen finished with 2,141 runs at 43.69 and exactly 1,000 runs at 23.25 in T20Is. Among South Africans, he is among only three ODI players with at least 2,000 runs, including AB de Villiers and David Miller, to have a 40-plus average and strike at more than 100.
With a minimum of 500 balls faced, Klaasen's ODI strike-rate of 117.05 is the fourth-best in the world.
In April, Klaasen was excluded from South Africa's central contract,with reports suggesting that he may have turned down an offer to play more freely in T20 leagues around the world. He had retired from Test cricket last year to focus on his white-ball career, but the latest development will see him fully focus on his franchise cricket commitments.
He made his decision public via a statement on social media.
Klaasen retires: Statement in full
"It is a sad day for me as I announce that I have decided to step away from international cricket. It took me a long time to decide what’s best for me and my family for the future. It was truly a very difficult decision but also one that I have absolute peace with.
"From the first day, it was the biggest privilege representing my country and it was everything that I have worked for and dreamed about as a young boy.
"I have made great friendships and relationships that I will treasure for life. Playing for the Proteas gave me the opportunity to meet great people that changed my life, and to those people I can’t say thank you enough. My road to wearing the Proteas shirt was different than most and there were certain coaches in my career that kept believing in me - to them I will always be grateful.
"To have played with the Proteas badge on my chest was and will always be the biggest honour in my career.
"I look forward to spending more time with my family as this decision will allow me to do so.
"I will always be a big Proteas supporter and would like to thank everyone that supported me and my teammates during my career."
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