Rassie van der Dussen might have opened the door for many South African domestic cricketers that have been operating under the radar, writes Ongama Gcwabe.

After just 21 innings in green and gold, Rassie has cemented his spot in the Proteas white-ball set-up. He has undoubtedly surprised many South Africans and many cricket fans around the world with his calmness, his grit, his maturity in stroke play and just how he carries himself in the middle. He shows all the characteristics necessary to sustain an incredible career in international cricket.

The beauty of the rise of Van der Dussen is the fact that he has not had it easy at all. He made his ODI debut at age 29 years, almost 11 years after making his List A and First Class debuts.

He had to accumulate more than 7,000 first-class runs and almost 4,000 List-A runs to get a call-up to play for the Proteas. He is the one cricketer who has shown a lot of dedication to play for South Africa by staying in the system put in place by CSA for so many years.

He finally got his big break in January 2019 against Pakistan.

Rassie’s success might convince the selectors to look at things in a slightly different way.

Recently, we have seen a lot of the young guys being given opportunities to play for South Africa, guys like Lutho Sipamla, Sinetmba Qeshile and Jannemann Malan to name a few.

With the way Rassie has emerged, the more experienced domestic cricketers might get a go in the national side.

Here are some of the guys who might be able to replicate Van der Dussen’s international debut season:

Dominic Hendricks

At age 28, with 118 first-class matches and over 6,000 runs to his name, Hendricks is one true talent. To be specific, he had a fantastic 2018/19 One Day-Cup campaign with the Highveld Lions. He scored 329 runs in just five innings at an average of 109.66, with two consecutive centuries and one half-century. One of those centuries came batting at No 4 and another came whilst opening the batting for the Lions.

Theunis de Bruyn

Theunis de Bruyn is another player who had a great run in the 2018/19 One Day Cup campaign. His raw power was absolutely fantastic last season. With 361 runs in seven matches at an average of 51.57 and a highest score of 183 runs, De Bruyn has really earned his SA A call-up. His list List-A record includes eight half-centuries and four centuries in 44 innings. Although having already made his Test debut, he could match this with an ODI call-up.

Sarel Erwee

Sarel Erwee is another player who puts in good performances in the domestic arena. His List-A record includes over 2,000 runs at an average of 40.79 in 59 innings. During the One-Day Cup 2018/19 campaign, the Dolphins batsman scored two centuries and accumulated 440 runs at an average of 73.33. Also, Sarel showed his class during the 1st edition of the Mzansi Super League with the Durban Heat. When his team was struggling he showed maturity in high-pressure situations.

Ongama Gcwabe is a sports journalist and the owner of 100mph_CSA. Follow him on – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

Photo: FoxSport/Twitter