I have always been a Rajasthan Royals fan since early days of IPL: Rassie van der Dussen

Rassie van der Dussen, who has been one of the most in-form batters in white-ball cricket off-late, said that he has been a fan of the Rajasthan Royals side for a very long time. The South African middle-order batter was brought the Rajasthan franchise in the recently concluded mega-auction.

The Pretoria-born batter has been in terrific form in white-ball cricket. He impressed one and all with his innings in Sharjah when he smashed an unbeaten 94 against a strong England bowling line-up in the World T20 last year. Dussen played five matches in the tournament, scoring 177 runs at an outstanding average of 59.0 at a strike rate of 116.45. The middle-order batter was even more impressive against India in the ODI series earlier this year scoring 218 runs from just three innings which included a well compiled century as well.

Dussen stated that he had started following the side when former Protea skipper Graeme Smith played for them and expressed his excitement about the upcoming season. The 33-year-old went unsold in the initial round but later found a bid from the 2008 title winners. Speaking about this, Dussen was quoted as saying by News24.

“It feels good to be acknowledged, and I’ve always been a Rajasthan Royals fan since the early days of the IPL when the likes of Graeme Smith played there. It’s a team I’ve always followed; I’m very happy to be representing the franchise, and it’s an exciting prospect for me.”

Rassie van der Dussen feels that he has evolved as a batter with time

The middle-order batter said that he feels that he has evolved as a batter and with the experience of playing for the Proteas for some time, now, he feels that he has covered most aspects of his game and is, therefore, ready to take up new challenges playing on different surfaces in the middle-order. He said:

“It’s been a long time coming. and having started my career as an opener, my game required some evolution. I feel like I’m at a stage of my career where I’ve got most aspects of my game covered from a versatility perspective.”

“Playing in different conditions over the past few years has been really challenging, but I felt I’ve adapted well. and that’s key for a middle-order batter. One has to be adaptable. and have a particular set of skills in all aspects, as India will be a different challenge.”