RASSIE HAPPY TO THE DIRTY WORK FOR THE PROTEAS

In a dynamic Proteas batting line-up that possesses the explosive ball striking ability of Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, it is easy to bypass the unique skill set of MI Cape Town’s Rassie van der Dussen.

But that would be a grave injustice for Van der Dussen is 'Mr Consistency' and currently boasts the leading ODI average of 53.69 after 55 matches among his peers.

Equally, Van der Dussen showed during Betway SA20 Season 1 that even when everyone was falling around him at MI Cape Town, he stood a lone figure as the Newlands-based team’s leading run-scorer with 243 runs at an average of 30.37.

It is for these reasons, along with the selflessness of doing the hard graft instead of hitting the sexy sixes, that has made Van der Dussen an indispensable asset in the Proteas’ quest for World Cup glory.

“Yeah, I think myself, Quin [Quinton de Kock] and Temba [Bavuma] often joke about it, saying the reason Klaasen and the guys get millions at IPL, is because they can come in and hit sixes at the back.

“But it's a role that needs to be done, and from my side and other guys as well, we're really happy to be doing it,” Van der Dussen said ahead of the Proteas’ World Cup clash against New Zealand in Pune today.

“We have a ‘blueprint’ in inverted commas, but it's about the fundamentals of building a 50-over innings. It's been big for us to set the base at the top and really give guys like Markram and David [Miller] the platform to be at their most destructive. And that's something that's been working well for us.

“It's amazing to see what you can achieve when it doesn't matter who gets the credit or when you don't care who gets the credit for getting the win or getting over the line or putting in a good performance. So, there's a real sense of that in our team. And if that's going to help us win matches and win the World Cup, then I'll be happy not to be thanked for that.”

Van der Dussen has already struck a century and fifty in this World Cup but feels that the Proteas’ key to success in India will be the ability to share the run-scoring load from game to game.

“I've had innings or two where I've contributed. And I think the really positive thing about our batting lineup at the moment is that different guys are contributing. Obviously, Quinny is the leading run scorer and Aiden is right there,” he said.

“But around them we've had different people contributing in different times and that's really reassuring for us as a batting unit to know that on different days, different guys might fill up different roles and carry the responsibility.”

Images courtesy ICC Cricket World Cup