Rassie van der Dussen â€“ Better Late Than Never

In an ideal scenario, Rassie van der Dussen would have come into a South African side packed with batting talent. Instead, he made his debut just months after AB de Villiers quit international cricket in 2018. Hashim Amla would follow after South Africaâ€™s disastrous showing at the 2019 World Cup. Faf du Plessis too has now made way for a younger generation, and van der Dussen is one of those entrusted with filling the huge void left in the middle order.

In ODIs, Rassie has done a remarkable job, scoring 50 or more in 14 of his 32 innings so far. Though itâ€™s early days, he averages more than modern-day greats like Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, and he has played some equally timely innings in T20Is as well. In June 2022, a record 4th-wicket partnership for South Africa inspired their biggest run chase in T20Is, and in the process ended Indiaâ€™s 12-match winning run in the format.

Top-scoring in South Africaâ€™s first class tournament and then being central to Jozi Starsâ€™ success in the domestic T20 competition made it impossible for the selectors to ignore Van der Dussen, especially with so much experience having been lost from the middle order.

Rassie van der Dussen: Recent Times

Rassie has yet to make a dent in the Indian T20 League. The Rajasthan team bought him at the 2022 mega auction, but he couldnâ€™t force himself into the first-choice XI. In the rare chances he did get, he couldnâ€™t make much of an impression either. Given that heâ€™ll be 34 before the next season starts, it remains to be seen whether the franchise will keep faith in him.

For the moment, though, his focus will be very much on the 2022 T20 World Cup and 50-overs World Cup, to be played over the next 18 months. South Africa havenâ€™t won a global tournament since the inaugural ICC Knockout (precursor to the Champions Trophy) in 1998, and a new generation will hope to shed the baggage and scars of old.

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Rassie van der Dussenâ€™s Personal Details

- Name
- :
- Hendrik Erasmus van der Dussen
- Date of Birth
- :
- 7th February 1989
- Birthplace
- :
- Pretoria, South Africa
- Height
- :
- 6â€²2â€³
- Playing Role
- :
- Top-order batter
- Batting Style
- :
- Right-handed batter
- Current Teams
- :
- South Africa, Rajasthan team

Current Rankings

As of 22 Aug. 2022, Rassie van der Dussen is ranked 11th, 46th, 3rd in the T20I, Test and ODIs batting rankings.

- Game Format
- Test
- ODI
- T20
- ICC Bowling Rankings
- 46
- 3
- 11

Rassie van der Dussen Stats

As of 22 Aug. 2022, Maheesh Theekshana has the below stats in the ODI, Test and T20I format for Sri Lanka team.

- M
- Inn
- Runs
- HS
- Avg
- SR
- 100
- 200
- 50
- 4s
- 6s
- CT
- ST
- Test
- 15
- 27
- 824
- 98 vs ENG
- 32.96
- 41.07
- 0
- 0
- 6
- 90
- 4
- 22
- 0
- ODI
- 38
- 32
- 1525
- 134 vs ENG
- 69.31
- 89.91
- 3
- 0
- 11
- 108
- 28
- 15
- 0
- T20I
- 41
- 37
- 1044
- 94* vs SA
- 36.00
- 128.72
- 0
- 0
- 7
- 66
- 45
- 14
- 0

Rassie van der Dussen - Key Skills and Strengths

Though Rassie didnâ€™t make his international debut until he was nearly 30, the experience of having played South African domestic cricket for over a decade by then stood him in good stead when he did get his chance. By then, he was also a veteran of franchise tournaments in Canada, South Africa and the Caribbean. A batter who is unafraid to play his strokes, van der Dussen has provided both consistency and solidity to South Africaâ€™s top order, especially in the limited-overs formats.

Rassie van der Dussen - Awards and Achievements

Van der Dussen first played for the South Africa cricket team just a few months after one of his cricket heroes, AB de Villiers, had retired from international cricket. In the ODI arena, at least, he has proved a capable replacement for the genius. There have been moments to savor in T20Is as well, though the transition from a prolific run scorer in first class cricket to the Test arena has proved a bit more difficult. With the focus currently very much on the T20 World Cup later this year and the 50-over World Cup in India next year, van der Dussen remains a vital part of South Africaâ€™s plans.

Here are some of van der Dussenâ€™s biggest records and achievements in international cricket:

Dussen is the oldest player to score a maiden ODI century for South Africa (32 years and 54 days).
He was named in the ICCâ€™s ODI Team of the Year for 2021.
At present, 32 innings into his career, van der Dussen has the highest average in ODI history.
Only Pakistanâ€™s Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq have reached 1,000 ODI runs in fewer innings than van der Dussen (21).

Van der Dussenâ€™s Indian T20 League Journey

After starring for the Jozi Stars in the South African League, for St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean League and for the Vancouver team in the Canadian League, it was a slight surprise that van der Dussen didnâ€™t get an Indian T20 League contract until 2022. Then too, there was no bidding war for his services, with the Rajasthan team picking him up at his base price of Rs. 1 crore. He played only a fringe role, though, as the team made the final, and will hope for more opportunities in upcoming seasons.