South Africa boasts one of the most formidable batting line-ups at this World Cup. Rassie van der Dussen, who could have an important role to play in that line-up, says it is a good place to be.
“We have played together for a few years now as the batting unit,” he said, after making 51 in Monday’s rain-affected warm-match that South Africa lost against New Zealand by the DLS method.
“Everyone knows each other’s game very well. We have found a nice blueprint of how to go about it in different conditions, especially in the last few games against Australia.”
He feels the IPL experience of several players would come in handy at the World Cup. “It is very important,” said van der Dussen, who averages an impressive 56.78 in ODIs.
“What is probably more important is experience at different venues. We are playing all over the country and every city has its own different conditions.
“With Delhi coming up next, some of the guys have played there a lot and we will lean heavily on them in terms of what a good score is, what the pitch will be doing, will there be dew late at night and all those small things that go into it. The same goes for when we go to Chennai, Hyderabad or wherever else we are going to play.”
South Africa opens its campaign with a match against Sri Lanka at New Delhi on October 7.
