Business Day

Van der Dussen goes to bat for all in SA

- Telford Vice London

What with xenophobic and gender violence hitting the headlines hard in recent weeks‚ South Africans might welcome something else to think about. Not to take our eye off the ball there’s no resolving those crippling issues if we ignore them‚ which would be a derelictio­n of our patriotic duty but to find allies to help us fix what has gone so badly wrong.

Maybe that was what Rassie van der Dussen was trying to smuggle between the lines of what he said in Dharamshal­a on Wednesday: “You’re playing for a cause bigger than yourself and bigger than the team.

“We know we can influence things that are happening back home and give people a positive outlook on the team and the country.”

Van der Dussen is part of the SA squad who will start a threematch T20 series against India on Sunday.

As one of the few players who emerged from the recent World Cup with credit he scored three-half centuries in six innings for a side that lost five of their eight completed games

it was a good idea to wheel him out for a media session.

“The last time we were together was at the World Cup‚ which was a disappoint­ing showing and everybody knew it‚” Van der Dussen said.

“But it’s a fresh start with a new coaching team.”

Enoch Nkwe leads that team‚ and Quinton de Kock will captain the side in the T20s.

“Quinton is one of those guys who leads by example‚” Van der Dussen said. “He doesn’t always say a lot, but when he speaks he says really valuable things.

“We know what he is as a player and how many games he has won for SA.”

And now is a better time than any to show South Africans of all stripes that actions speak louder

and are more important than words.

 ??  ?? Rassie van der Dussen
Rassie van der Dussen

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