Rassie van der Dussen on how tough times, racial divisions back home and heartbreaks have brought South African team closer | Cricket-world-cup News

Rassie van der Dussen has always been known as a wise guy with the bandwidth to comprehend and articulate on South Africa’s unique racial divisions and the arduous journey undertaken to correct those wrongs in sport. But on the eve of the clash against New Zealand, the Saffer sage stepped into the shoes of long-suffering fans of the cricket team, when asked about how the team deals with constant reminders of past defeats.Like how they’ve not beaten New Zealand in a World Cup since 1999. And the savage criticism that comes its way after defeats like the one against the Netherlands.
“You just have to acknowledge it, accept it. After the loss to the Dutch, we took a lot of flak from back home and the media. You have to accept that friends and people at home are scarred previous performances. The criticism comes from a place of hurt,” Van der Dussen would say.
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The team gets bombarded with clips of past losses, like a bad movie being replayed, but chooses to stay stoic over it. “We haven’t lived some of those losses, so they aren’t applicable to us. It’s part of our hory, but not a part of us,” he explained the squad’s coping mechanism.
Van der Dussen also reckoned that this is a tighter Proteas unit than previous teams, the bonding a result of having come through together in challenging times. “There’s definitely something different about this squad because of the situations we faced. Like Covid, Black Lives Matter and various political stories that forced us to build together as a team. We are tight off the field. Know each other intimately. And as a group playing together for a long time, there are always real connections formed between any two members of the team,” he said. The tough times have formed thick bonds between Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada, himself and Reeza Hendricks. “It has been hard to deal with a lot of controversies but it brought us together.”
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The Proteas batting mainstay accepted that the chase against Pakan in the previous game was less than ideal, the team scraping home after a nervous 10th-wicket partnership between spinners Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi. “We’re not happy with how we batted collectively in the Pakan game. The positive we take from it is how we didn’t play our best, but still won. We are very clear on where we went wrong.”
Chennai: South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen pets a dog during a practice session ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match between Pakan and South Africa, at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (PTI Photo/R Senthil Kumar)(PTI10_26_2023_000380A)
While the Saffers have gone close to or beyond 400 in a bunch of games, their chasing game is seen as a concern. “We have a ‘blueprint’ for batting in the first innings. And the challenge is to emulate it when batting second. We didn’t manage it against the Netherlands and followed it only in stages against Pakan. Once or twice we didn’t get it right, but we’ve actually chased pretty well in the last 24 months,” Van der Dussen stressed.
Winning inspiration
From the World Cup-winning Springboks and their one-point semifinal win over England, the Proteas had picked their takeaway. “It was pretty scrappy but they got over the line,” he said. The team had stayed up till 2.30 am to watch the three one-point wins in the quarters, semis and finals.
One of the most refreshing aspects of both the Springboks and Proteas teams, of late, has been their fronting up to the reality of a fractured society and racial tensions in South Africa, and how sport was pushing back.
“Coming from a very divided background of 70-100 years where mindsets are very entrenched in communities, Springboks and sport have shown what can be achieved when you get things right and are willing to put differences aside. Springboks show good things happen to good people. They have a hunger for success and humility too.”
South Africa’s Siya Kolisi lifts the trophy as teammates celebrate, as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, left walks onto the platform during the presentation ceremony after they won the Rug World Cup final match between New Zealand and South Africa at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, near Paris Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023. South Africa won the game 12-11. (AP)
The Proteas are friends with some from the Bokks squad. “We tell ourselves we are no different (from the Springboks). Yes, we’ve not won a World Cup. But when we do, it’ll be an honour to be spoken of in the same sentence.”
Van der Dussen seemed upbeat with how things were going for the batting South African unit. “Quinny (de Kock) is the leading run-scorer and Aiden (Markram) is up there. But on different days, different guys have carried out different roles. I’m relatively pleased with 1-2 innings I’ve contributed. And we’re in a pretty good space,” he added. “We’ve fallen short at times, been good at times. But we are good at shutting out the negativity.”Most Read
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On the New Zealand hoodoo since 1999, he said it wasn’t really discussed within the group. “We’ve had no chat about it. It’s all in the past, we don’t carry it with us. It’s two pretty strong teams in form, and should be a good game.”

The explosive South African middle order is the talk of the town, which has also meant that the top-3 are expected to set it up for the big hitters. It’s a thankless job, but Van der Dussen would chuckle about playing the non-glamorous part.
“Myself, Quinny and (Skipper) Temba (Bavuma) often joke that the likes of Klassy (Heinrich Klassen) get millions at IPL because of the dirty work we do at the top. But it’s a role that needs to be done. And we are happy to do it. English isn’t my first language so I can’t think of the right word for this. But it’s amazing what we can achieve, when you don’t care who gets the credit. If that gets us the World Cup, I’ll be happy to never get credit.”