CARDIFF – The “AB Gate” saga continues to hover over the Proteas at this World Cup, almost as much as the dark clouds that continue to deck the Welsh capital.
The Proteas may have moved on from the south-east of England down here to the rugby-crazed land of JPR Williams, Barry John and more recently Shane Williams, but De Villiers seems to have come with them.
After coach Ottis Gibson and captain Faf du Plessis explained the details surrounding De Villiers’ exclusion from the Proteas World Cup squad in Southampton, it was now the turn of Rassie van der Dussen.
It certainly was an uncomfortable situation on Thursday for the 30-year-old Highveld Lions batsman, who is the virtual direct replacement for De Villiers here in the United Kingdom.
However, Van der Dussen acquitted himself well, saying that he too believed that he was capable of winning games for his country.
“I wasn’t surprised that he (De Villiers) wanted to make a comeback. Obviously the media reports a lot on AB, and judging by what he said over the last year, I wasn’t surprised.
“The thing biggest players all have in common is that they want to perform on the biggest stage,” Van der Dussen told the media on Thursday.
“In terms of did it affect me? No! I am quite happy to be mentioned in the same sentence as AB, because he is obviously among the best there ever has been.
“But do I have to replace him? No, I don’t think I have to. Can I play a match-winning innings for my country? I believe I can.
“I don’t think it had an effect on me like people think it did.”
Rassie van der Dussen looks down the pitch after being bowled against India. Photo: Action Images via Reuters
The Proteas will certainly hope Van der Dussen can transfer this on-field confidence to the pitch over the course of the next five games.
He is currently South Africa’s highest run-scorer at the World Cup, and been hugely consistent since coming into the Proteas team at the beginning of the summer.
But he will need to raise his level of performance even more.
Being forced into a corner where only five successive victories can offer the Proteas some form of hope of progressing to the knockout stages, the stakes cannot be any higher.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/ItsMoreThanCricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ItsMoreThanCricket #ProteaFire pic.twitter.com/TCjJPImgbe
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA)
And Van der Dussen wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We have five quarter-finals. That’s how we are looking at it. It’s in not nine games anymore. We know what we need to do. Pressure is nothing new. If someone thought there wasn’t pressure, let there be a newsflash to him: there is pressure!” the right-hander said.
“A lot of the times, I think people downplay it and steer away from it.
“But from my point of view, I know it’s a big occasion. I know I am under the spotlight – there are so many cameras on me.
“We are not beating about the bush. In the last three games, we just haven’t been at our best. It wasn’t due to pressure.
“We know it must click, but we also have to make it click. We know there is no hiding away,” Van der Dussen said.
Proteas batsman Rassie van der Dussen spoke about how to deal with pressure at the World Cup. Video: Zaahier Adams
* Follow all the #CricketWorldCup action here.
@ZaahierAdams