Exclusive: Rassie van der Dussen Ready to Rewrite Captaincy Story in T20 Tri-Series

In terms of results, being captain of a Proteas white-ball side has generally been a terrible experience for Rassie van der Dussen, but this time he is excited by the prospect as he leads South Africa in a T20 triangular series with hosts Zimbabwe and New Zealand later this month.

Van der Dussen captained the Proteas in an ODI against Ireland and three T20s in the West Indies last year, but all four matches were lost. In his defence, though, he was given squads that were missing most of the regular players. 

For the Caribbean series, South Africa had already announced their squad for the T20 World Cup that began little more than a week later, and Van der Dussen's team was full of players, including himself, who had not made the cut.

"We were playing with none of our World Cup players against a full-strength West Indies outfit, who are always great at home. And it was tough for me mentally because I wasn't in the World Cup XV. Results then did not go our way and the West Indies went from high-to-high."

"But this time we're almost at the start of a World Cup cycle because we have a new white-ball coach in Shukri Conrad. He's shown fairness in the Test team because if you do well, then you will earn a spot in his squad, you will be in the mix."

"He's brought honesty and caring in his approach. Which goes a long way to fostering a healthy environment. So we really trust the process and I'm very excited to lead this squad. The next T20 World Cup is not far away, coming up in February next year, and opportunity to show what you can do is all you can ask for as a player," Van der Dussen told SportsBoom.co.za.

First engagement

The triangular series will be played in Harare and starts on July 14. 

South Africa have again rested their biggest names, with Van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks and Lungi Ngidi the only regulars taking part. But this time the second-stringers have much to play for, with Conrad, in his first engagement as the Proteas white-ball coach, starting to build his squad for the next T20 World Cup.

"The leadership role is not new for me, but it is still a great privilege and honour. In this build-up to the next World Cup, there are some really exciting guys coming through, which is the sign of a healthy system. If we can give the selectors a headache, then that is a good thing," the 36-year-old Van der Dussen said.

"I've been on the end of missing out on a World Cup squad, for last year's event, and it's tough, even though I understood and respected the decision. But the Proteas have a great environment at the moment and we're coming up against some strong teams, so it's a big chance for younger guys to come through."

"We have really talented bowlers like Nqaba Peter and Kwena Maphaka, and on the batting front, we have Lhuan-dre Pretorius, fresh from his incredible Test debut, and Dewald Brevis, who is flying high after a dominant IPL, he will be really confident after we kind of unleashed him at MI Cape Town."

"Corbin Bosch's last seven months have been unbelievable and hopefully he can just keep riding that wave. He has real x-factor because he can bowl 145km/h and score hundreds."

Rubin Hermann's story also resonates with me. Three seasons ago he was playing for Mpumalanga in Division II, then he joined North-West, where I first played, and has put in performance-after-performance. From the CSA T20 Challenge, he was contracted for the SA20 and now he's in the Proteas squad.

"It just shows that you don't have to be a young prodigy to play international cricket, you can take the route where you just keep going until you bang the door down. Just because you're not chosen when you're 21 or 22, it doesn't mean you can't have a future role," Van der Dussen said.

While all-rounder Andile Simelane and batsmen Brevis, Hermann and Pretorius are all on their first Proteas white-ball tour, the performances of 23-year-old leg-spinner Peter will be of prime interest.

The Central Gauteng Lions player had a stunning first full season of domestic cricket, bowling them to the 2023/24 CSA T20 Challenge title with 21 wickets in 11 matches, while conceding just 6.32 runs-per-over. It led to him making his Proteas debut on that West Indies tour in May 2024. But he was less successful last summer, taking just eight wickets, while conceding 7.85 runs-per-over.

Van der Dussen is a Lions team-mate of Peter's and has first-hand knowledge of his situation.

"It's not a bad thing for Nxaba to have a tougher second season, Dewald Brevis was the same way. Guys do start to work you out and Nqaba would have learnt more through having a tough last season than in the first. The earlier you have some challenges, the better."

"Now he has that reference point that comes with guys coming at you. He's worked hard on things at the Lions and he goes into matches now knowing that guys are going to go for him. So he's become more tactical now."

"He's had the time to work on strategies because he was aware last season already that his second season would be tougher. So the last campaign would have been a very valuable experience for him. I always say international cricket is not a finishing school and the real test of a player is how they respond to setbacks," Van der Dussen said.