India vs South Africa: IPL has definitely helped, says Rassie van der Dussen

Rassie van der Dussen credits stint with Rajasthan Royals for match-winning unbeaten 75 in first T20I against India

Rassie van der Dussen during the first T20I against India on Thursday. Pic/AFP

He might not have played a lot of games for Rajasthan Royals in IPL-15, but Rassie van der Dussen counts his experience of watching close games from the dugout as invaluable, something that helped while chasing a huge Indian total in first T20 International.

Van der Dussen scored 75 off 46 balls as South Africa chased down a target of 212 in a canter in the first T20I against India here on Thursday.

Van der Dussen, who played only three games for the Rajasthan Royals this season, feels staying in India for the past couple of months helped the majority of the South African players to cope with extreme conditions, while also providing them a fair idea as to how to tackle the Indian bowlers.  “Definitely [IPL has helped]. I watched a lot of IPL games, did not get much of an opportunity to play, but I had a pretty good idea what their bowlers would do and the conditions,” Van der Dussen said at the post-match press conference.

“Indian conditions are different to what we have in South Africa. I spent two months here, been in these conditions, been in the heat, so had acclimatised to that and that goes for everyone,” he added.

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The likes of Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje were all part of the league this season, which was played entirely in India. 

“We had a lot of guys in the IPL this year and that helped us in the first game to adapt quicker and get over the line.”

Van der Dussen, who stitched a match-winning partnership with Miller, had initially struggled in his unbeaten 75-run knock. 

“I struggled to get the pace of the wicket, I was under pressure. But David continued his form from the IPL and played a brilliant innings, put pressure on the bowlers and just pulled me through.  He hit one or two sixes and the momentum swung towards us. I was obviously lucky, you got to acknowledge that. But luck is part of the game. When I was dropped, I knew I had to make India pay,” he said. 

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