Rassie van der Dussen Links Proteas Snub to Batting Role Under Shukri Conrad

Proteas white-ball batter Rassie van der Dussen has told SportsBoom.co.za that he batted out of position the last time he played T20Is, a feat that may have contributed to his exclusion from the squad for seven months. 

Recently,  ESPNCricinfo's feature with Liam Livingstone made rounds on social media, where the player pointed out that he was given a role that he felt was a waste of his potential, a feat that he feels contributed to his not featuring in 12 months in white-ball cricket for England.  

Proteas spinner Tabrazi Shamsi also had his say, relating to one of the points that Livingstone had revealed that players did not get proper communication from the England Cricket Board or the head coach, Brendon McCullum.

SportsBoom recalled the last conversation we had with Van der Dussen. 

Out of Position

It was during the early stages of the recently concluded T20 World Cup, and Van der Dussen mentioned that he, too, felt that he had not played in his position in the few T20I matches he played last year in the build-up to the World Cup. 

Van der Dussen played seven T20I matches in 2025, five during the Tri-Nation Series in Zimbabwe in July, where he was captain, and two in Australia in August. 

After that, Van der Dussen was dropped, missing out on tours to England, Namibia, Pakistan, India and the inbound tour of the West Indies just before the World Cup, and eventually from the World Cup. 

In Australia, the 37-year-old batted at six in the two games that he played, a feat that Van der Dussen felt played a role in his exclusion from the team. 

Currently, South Africa is in New Zealand, and once again Van der Dussen missed out, despite the team missing multiple senior players due to the Indian Premier League. 

T20I Snub Explained

"In my situation, in the last handful of T20S (that I played), I don't feel that I've been played in my position in the national side. I'm based in the top three. I think everyone knows that," Van der Dussen told SportsBoom.co.za.  

"In Zim, for example, I opened the batting, which was fine, and then batted four one game, and then batted five one game. In Australia, I batted six in one game. So, that was frustrating. I'm always a team-first guy, so I didn't mind playing those roles at all. But it is frustrating."

"I'm not sitting here complaining or anything. It is what it is. Sometimes a coach is going to back certain guys, and a selector is going to back certain guys and not pick some guys, and that's fine. That's how cricket works," Van der Dussen concluded.