Fit-again Heinrich Klaasen raises spirits in Proteas camp, says captain Temba Bavuma

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow after the consistent rain in Rawalpindi that washed out the Proteas’ ICC Champions Trophy clash against Australia is that Heinrich Klaasen has been passed fit for the remainder of the competition.

Klaasen missed the opening game against Afghanistan with an elbow injury and had to undergo a fitness test on the eve of the match against Australia.

There was still uncertainty whether Klaasen would have taken his place against the Aussies, but captain Temba Bavuma confirmed that the powerful middle-order batter is now available for selection again.

“Yeah, everyone is good – Henrich Klassen, he's recovered from a fitness point of view - that obviously adds a lot of value towards our team. Spirits are good within the team,” Bavuma said.

Bavuma admitted that it was frustrating not getting out on the park in Rawalpindi as his team were highly motivated to test themselves against the defending world champions.

“We'd have obviously loved to get a game of cricket, so yeah it is frustrating,” he said. You would have had two sides who were confident coming into the game. So, I think as a fan you would want to see who the winner would have been at the end of the day.

“From a motivation point of view, the minute you mention Australia, that gets the guys jumping. But like I said, we were looking forward to it. 

“I think obviously from a confidence point of view just building on the work that we've done - the previous result that we caught against Afghanistan, which I thought was quite clinical and obviously now against a tough outfit in Australia to get over the line then would have done well for the confidence point of view.”

Bavuma stated his team would be monitoring the England versus Afghanistan clash on Wednesday in Lahore closely, particularly with the Proteas now likely to face a virtual quarter-final against the English in Karachi on Saturday.

“We’ll get to see them (England) when they go against Afghanistan - that obviously will give us a better idea in terms of what the table looks like and what we need to do. 

“I think again that becomes another important game. England on paper is one of the stronger sides, so we know that as a group we'll have to play to our best. 

“But we've got a couple of days now. Kind of put our feet up and then probably after tomorrow start preparing for that clash against England.”