Rassie van der Dussen Opens Up On Comparisons With AB de Villiers

South African middle-order batter Rassie van der Dussen revealed how he unexpectedly came into the spotlight as a potential successor to AB de Villiers. Rassie van der Dussen emphasized that he could never replicate what AB de Villiers accomplished in his prime.

AB de Villiers retired from all formats of international cricket in May 2018. However, the right-handed batter expressed interest in returning to the team for the 2019 World Cup. The selectors and captain decided against it, as it would have been unfair to other players.

I Was In The Headlines – Rassie van der Dussen

Reflecting on the comparison with AB de Villiers during the 2019 World Cup, Rassie van der Dussen stated that he was simply focused on doing his best in his own way.

“Then, the AB story came up – about how he might have come out of retirement to play the World Cup. I was just a side story. By no action of my own, I was in the headlines,” Van der Dussen told ESPNcricinfo.

“From early on, people were asking me if I was going to play the AB role and I was like, “How are you even comparing me to this guy?” I’ve played nine ODIs and I don’t think anyone in world cricket at that stage or since can do what AB was capable of at his prime. I said to myself that I can just do what I can do,” he added.

I Was Quite Happy And Grateful – Rassie van der Dussen

Van der Dussen said that he was able to silence questions about AB de Villiers’ absence with his performances during that marquee tournament in England.

“I was lucky in the sense that I had quite a good World Cup, and that put a few things to bed. Maybe if I hadn’t had a good campaign, people would have brought that up and said, if AB was there, things could have been different. I was quite happy and grateful that I could contribute well to the team,” he added.

Van der Dussen scored 311 runs across nine matches with an impressive average of 62.20 in the 2019 World Cup. The right-handed batter smashed three half-centuries in the tournament, with a best score of 95 against Australia.

I Was Really Opposed To That – Rassie van der Dussen

The 34-year-old opened up about the ‘Chokers’ tag associated with the South African cricket team, emphasizing that he didn’t feel any pressure during the tournament.

“I was always quite vocal against people who, in previous World Cups, would bring up the choking thing. I was really opposed to that,” he further added.

“When I got into the squad, I didn’t really feel that pressure because it wasn’t really a thing for me. I don’t know if the older guys had some scarring from previous World Cups – obviously 2015 – but for me, it wasn’t really a thing, and in the team environment, I didn’t feel it was a massive thing,” he concluded.

South Africa failed to reach the final of the 50-over World Cup despite reaching the semifinals on four occasions. The Proteas lost all four matches in the knockout stage. They didn’t qualify for the knockout matches in the 2019 edition.