Proteas in 'a good mental space' ahead of T20I Tri-Series, says stand-in skipper Rassie van der Dussen

ONE of the first things Shukri Conrad did after taking on the Proteas Test job two and half years ago was to ring up Rassie van der Dussen.

The top-order batter had been a stalwart across formats for Conrad’s predecessor Mark Boucher, but Conrad felt that Van der Dussen, having played 18 Test matches and averaged 30.16 without scoring a century, had run his race in the longest format. 

Instead, Conrad suggested to an understandably disappointed Van der Dussen that he pursue his white-ball options across the various T20 franchise leagues.

Van der Dussen proceeded to immediately free himself up from his Lions first-class commitments to join the Pakistan Super League where the veteran has been a stand-out performer ever since. 

Not only has Van der Dussen averaged 39.4 at a strike-rate of 143.04 in the PSL, but the experience has allowed him to broaden his gameplans in the SA20 too. He has since routinely been among the leading run-scorers in South Africa’s premier T20 competition with 721 runs at an average of 40.05, striking at 138.74, over the past two seasons for MI Cape Town.

But such is the cricket landscape that Conrad and Van der Dussen’s paths have crossed again two years later. 

Conrad is now the Proteas’ all-format coach after taking over from Rob Walter, who will ironically be in charge of New Zealand during the upcoming Tri-Series, back in May. 

But in a genuine sign that there was no malice behind calling time on Van der Dussen’s Test career, Conrad has appointed the 36-year-old as Proteas T20I captain for his first white-ball series, which gets underway against Zimbabwe in Harare on Monday. 

“Obviously a great honour to be captain. Obviously there's some guys not in the team, so I'm happy to stand in in the absence of Aiden (Markram),” Van der Dussen said.

“Working with Shukri so far has been really refreshing. He's a very straight to the point type of character. Says it like it is, and players appreciate that. Everyone knows where they're standing. 

“He's very relaxed and chilled in terms of general structure, but there's a very serious part of him as well in terms of taking responsibility for your preparation and analysis and everything that goes into that.

“He's had some great results with the Test team, obviously. The guys who've played under him in the Test (side) speak really highly of him. 

“Coming in in the last few days, seeing how he operates and how the whole changeroom just goes about it with all the support staff. As a player, it's been really good to see. 

“Very specific, but at the same time laid back, I want to say, in a good way. The squad's in a really good mental space at the moment.”

The Tri-Series, involving hosts Zimbabwe and New Zealand, will form the start of the Proteas’ preparations for the ICC T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and India early next year.

The Proteas fell agonisingly short in the last T20 World Cup when they went down by seven runs to India in a tense final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados last year. 

Van der Dussen feels the Proteas’ success in the recent WTC Final at Lord’s where Conrad’s team ended a 27-year drought in major ICC events has inspired the white-ball team.

“All of us took a lot of inspiration from the World Test Championship final. I don't think many people gave us a chance to even get to the final, and certainly not in the final,” he said.

“If you look at it, it speaks a lot of what we stand for and try to represent as South Africans. The resilience and the proud sporting nation as a whole. People expect results from us, and that sort of drives guys to perform seemingly above levels that other people think are possible.

“We definitely spoke about that in the squad, but for us the chat has been really important to refocus. It's a different format, it's a different challenge lying ahead now. The prep has been really good.

“Obviously the guys had some time in the Test, and we had a good camp in Pretoria, the guys who came in. Really good camp there, and the last two days the guys have been on point. I felt that we would be ready to play today already, but that's always a good position to be in. You feel like you're raring to go, and hopefully we can hit the ground running.”