Rassie van der Dussen should be given the chance to prove his quality in Tests, writes Alasdair Fraser.
Disappointed is always a great way to describe a feeling or emotion.
That’s how I feel after India’s crushing defeat over the Proteas.
I haven’t been able to watch the Test in its entirety (I’m in Japan for the Rugby World Cup) but the stats coming out of the 1st Test don’t lie.
Yes, we fought back from being 38/3 in the first innings, and it was a commendable effort thanks to Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock to give the Indians a scare.
Credit must go to Dane Piedt and Muthusamy, who weighed in with some valuable runs and will give the selectors plenty of food for thought going into the second Test.
But I would like to give the selectors my food for thought for series to come: pick Rassie van der Dussen.
Theunis de Bruyn is not a world-class No 3 batsman. We are stuck with a gaping hole after Hashim Amla hung up his whites. The De Bruyn experiment is not working and he will be a big target when England resume hostilities this summer.
Am I the only one who thinks Rassie van der Dussen will be a serious hit in the longer format?
Perhaps not, but personally it would make his selection an easy one as it would promote Temba Bavuma to the now troublesome No 3 position.
In January 2016, Bavuma scored a brilliant debut century to deny England a win at Newlands. I was there and it was an innings I expected to see more of from the talented ‘Black Bradman’.
Four years later and, apart from that gritty 95 not out against the Aussies at the Wanderers in 2018, we havent see much more from him in the longer format.
Amla was thrust into the No 3 position and struggled, but he was backed after taking serious criticism and look what happened. He even had his own army and became the first Protea to score a triple ton.
It’s time for the Bavuma Brigade, and it starts now. The best part of this whole situation is that Van der Dussen can earn a deserved Test debut, and I guarantee he won’t disappoint.
Nor will Bavuma. Time to make the call, Enoch. The ball is in your court.
Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
