Documenting the Rise of Late Bloomer, Rassie van der Dussen as batting phenomenon of South Africa

Rassie van der Dussen has the highest batting average of 74.53 among all the active players in ODIs.

Rassie van der Dussen averages 74.53 in ODIs (©GettyImages)

South Africa won the recently conclude one-day series against India by a margin of 3-0 and their prolific batter Rassie van der Dussen was the second-highest run-getter of the series.

No one expected the home team to do well in the Test as well as ODI series against a good Indian side. The cricketing experts even said that South Africa doesn’t have any batters to counter quality seam bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.

Then, South Africa lost the opening Test at the SuperSports Park in Centurion and everyone thought the prediction of India winning in South Africa would come true. But South Africa bounced back at the Wanderers and then won the series in Cape Town. Van der Dussen, in the middle-order, contributed in a significant way to that win for South Africa.

Rassie van der Dussen replaced some great names in the middle-order of South Africa’s national side. The 32-year-old batter stood tall in front of a good seam attack and he even continued his brilliant form in the three-match ODI series against India, which allowed the home side to win the fifty overs series by 3-0. Van der Dussen scored a brilliant unbeaten 129 runs in the first ODI and he was unbeaten on 37 runs in the second. Then he scored a vital 52 runs in the final match of the ODI series.

Domestic Career

The Protea batter was born on February 7, 1989. Van der Dussen made his domestic debut for Northerns against Griqualand West in the provincial three-day challenge of South Africa in February 2008. He didn’t excel as an opener in his debut match where he scored 2 and 34 in the two innings. He has subsequently played for Lions as well as North-West in the domestic circuit of South Africa.

Van der Dussen was named in the Cape Town Knight Riders squad in 2018. But Cricket South Africa subsequently cancelled this event. He scored the most number of runs in the Sunfoil series played in 2017-18. In his 10 appearances, he scored 959 runs.

In the CSA T20 tournament, Van der Dussen was the joint-highest run-scorer. He played 10 matches in that T20 event, scoring 348 runs. He was also named for Gauteng ahead of South African cricket's 2021-2022 season.

Van der Dussen started his international career in the shortest format

He made his debut in the international arena in the T20I format game against Zimbabwe in 2018. In 2019, Rassie Van der Dussen made his debut against Pakistan in the fifty-over format and his Test debut against England came later that year. Van der Dussen scored 93 runs in his first ODI and he followed it up with 80 runs in Kingsmead. In five matches of that ODI series against Pakistan, Van der Dussen amassed 241 runs with an average of 120.5.

In his next series against Sri Lanka, Van der Dussen played five ODI matches and he scored just 112 runs with an average of 56 in the five-match ODI series. Against England, Rassie van der Dussen got his annual contract from Cricket South Africa (CSA). His first hundred in the ODI format came against Pakistan in April 2021.

Rassie van der Dussen playing through the covers (©AFP/GettyImages)

Career Summary

Format	Mat	Inn	Runs	Ave	HS	50s	100s
Tests	13	23	727	34.62	98	6	0
ODI	32	27	1267	74.53	129*	2	10
T20I	34	31	933	38.88	94	6	0
FC	131	221	8,271	42.43	175	42	17

Franchise T20 Career

Rassie van der Dussen started his franchise T20 career in the Canada T20 tournament. He played for Vancouver Knights in 2018 and he ended that T20 event as the highest run-scorer. Van der Dussen scored 255 runs in just eight matches.

He also played the first season of the Mzansi Super League in 2018. He also played for Jozi Stars in the next edition of the Mzansi Super League.

The South African batter has also featured in Pakistan Super League (PSL). He represented Islamabad United in that tournament and was their last pick in the 2019 edition.

The 32-year-old batter has played for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in the 2020 season. But he was also the first South African player to miss the CPL 2020 because he failed to confirm his availability in time.

Major Achievements

Van der Dussen was amongst the five cricket players who got the annual award in 2018 given by CSA.
In 2022, Van der Dussen was named in the ICC team for the fifty-over format.
He has the highest average in ODI cricket for batters with a minimum 1,000 runs. He averages 74.53 in the fifty-over format.
He is the third-fastest player to reach 1,000 runs in ODIs.
Van der Dussen is the fifth player to score a ninety in his maiden ODI match. He scored 93 runs against Pakistan.

Rassie van der Dussen is a real asset for South Africa, especially in the middle order. He has the template to build an innings and that too from a critical position. His unbeaten knock of 129 runs in the first ODI at Boland Park, Paarl is a prime example of that. South Africa were struggling to make a move in that match but Van der Dussen supported his skipper Temba Bavuma and guided his team to a challenging score of 296.

He needs more opportunities to win a real jackpot in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He went unsold in IPL 2021 with a base price of Rs 50 lakhs. But in IPL 2022 season, teams will need a solid middle-order player like Van der Dussen to augment their chances. An IPL contract will help him get in a better frame of mind ahead of the World T20 later this year.

Van der Dussen will definitely be a player to watch out for in the upcoming series between the Proteas and Kiwis to be played in New Zealand.