MI Cape Town's Rassie van der Dussen calls on Hashim Amla's 'keen eye' to sort out a few things

Sometimes it helps when you can go to someone that has been there and done it.

And few have done it more often than Proteas legend Hashim Amla.

The South African genius has since of course transformed himself into a batting coach of the highest quality, imparting his vast knowledge at both the Lions and MI Cape Town.

It just so happens that Rassie van der Dussen gets to tap into Amla in both camps.

“It’s a luxury I have for having him at Lions,” Van der Dussen said ahead of MI Cape Town's competition opener against Durban's Super Giants at Newlands on Friday.

“I came into the Lions setup a little bit underprepared, I think. There were one or two technical things that were out of sync. And I went to Hash and I'm like, listen, I think this, I think this. What do you think?

“And he immediately sort of caught on to that. And we've been focusing on some of that stuff ever since. And the other day, our first training session, we sort of reminded each other, I remember this, what we spoke about a few weeks ago.

“Have a look at that. And he's got a very keen eye, obviously, Hash. He's one of the best in the world.

“So, yeah, it's a luxury I have. And I'm just lucky and privileged to have a guy like that. Because you need that.”

Van der Dussen is an integral part of the MI Cape Town machine, having formed a lethal opening partnership with Ryan Rickelton over the past three seasons.

The Proteas top-order batter has scored 964 runs at an average of 37.07,, and was particularly good last season, finishing as the competition’s second highest run scorer overall with 393 runs at an average of 49.12 and strike-rate of 129.70.

It was not enough to convince the MI Cape Town management to retain his services, but coach Robin Peterson made sure to get the 36-year-old back at the auction to restore the dynamic opening partnership with Rickelton.

“Obviously, anything can happen in the auction. So, just really, really chuffed to be here, and that's my only focus at the moment,” Van der Dussen said,

“I think I'm in a comfortable place where I'm at. I know what I can offer. I really want to do well now again for MI Cape Town. I really want to do well in this tournament. 

“It's a great tournament to be part of, and I'm really happy to be back after the auction.”

Van der Dussen was not part of the Proteas’ last two T20 tours to England and India respectively, but with a T20 World Cup on the horizon he could still potentially push for a place in the 15-man squad should he shoot the lights out over the course of the next month in the Betway SA20.

The veteran did not want to look too far ahead though and instead wants to remain focused on the immediate challenge that lays ahead.

“I think sometimes these days, especially in T20 cricket, experience sort of gets put on the back burner a bit.

One thing that experience gives you is a calm head and playing situations and coming up against guys that you've probably come up against before,” he said.

“I think that's oftentimes not spoken enough of, especially in international cricket and in leagues. I think people go quickly to whoever's new and whoever's young and whoever's fresh.

“But from my side, I think I've been decent at the top of the order in the last few years. I keep improving and look for ways to improve and try and look for small percentages.”