Seeking opportunities wherever they might arise, Rassie van der Dussen had played cricket in South Africa, England, Ireland, Netherlands, Canada and the Caribbean before he finally caught the national selectors' eye and made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in October 2018. Van der Dussen had also been part of South Africa A's tour to India earlier that year, and the accumulated effect of his experience in such a wide variety of conditions has made him a dynamic, adaptable batsman at the top of the order or in the middle.
A naturally attacking batsman, van der Dussen has also been able to translate his talents into long-format cricket and was top-scorer in South Africa's first-class domestic competition in 2017-18, as well as being Lions' vice-captain. But it was his success in cricket's shortest formats that made van der Dussen impossible to ignore.
He was an integral part of the Vancouver Knights team that won the 2018 Global T20 Canada, after which he was recruited by St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League and capped the year by topping the batting charts with 469 runs at a strike rate of 138.75 in Jozi Stars' run to the inaugural Mzansi Super League title. Van der Dussen transitioned easily into international cricket, striking a fifty on T20I debut against Zimbabwe and following that up with 93 in his first ODI against Pakistan.
Liam Brickhill