Rassie van der Dussen: England’s Early Champions Trophy Exit Won’t Change Our Approach
Axes are drawn for the England One Day International side that is currently competing in the ongoing Champions Trophy in Pakistan under the captaincy of wicket-keeper batter Jos Butler.
Following their two consecutive losses in the tournament, the 2019 ODI World Cup champions found themselves with a booked flight ticket back to the UK this weekend after being knocked out of the competition in the group stages, a feat that they endured two years ago in India during the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Axes are drawn for England players
The side suffered a five-wicket defeat to Australia in their first match in Pakistan, losing a game they really weren’t supposed to lose having put over 350 runs on the board, only to leak runs to a weakened Australian side and eventually lost the game.
That loss would have stung given the rivalry between England and the men from Down Under.
The fact that the Aussies were without Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis, all household names within Australian cricket, made the loss even harder to accept.
To make things worse, they lost to Afghanistan earlier this week, losing for the second time in ICC events to the Asian team, having been beaten in the 2023 ODI World Cup as well.
The two losses brought about stern criticism to the senior players including Butler, the captain of the team.
Before they board the flight back home where they will be awaited by a displeased press and supporters, they play South Africa in Karachi in their last fixture.
Proteas batter, Rassie van der Dussen, told the media that England is still a dangerous side, despite their already-confirmed early exit from the Champions Trophy.
“They are a dangerous team,” said Van der Dussen.
“Yes, they haven’t had a great few weeks here, but if you look at the names in their line-up, we respect what they bring to the ground.”
Nothing changes for SA despite England’s situation
While England have nothing to lose, South Africa has a semi-final spot to secure.
The criticism from the UK, coupled with the fact that England has nothing left to lose, may make the Butler-led unit play with freedom in Karachi, thus being very dangerous to South Africa.
In the opposite camp, the Proteas may feel added pressure taking on an England team that is in search of redemption.
Van der Dussen emphasised they won’t approach the fixture any differently than they would if the situation of the two teams were different.
“I don’t think we’ll approach it any differently, to be honest. I think the nature of the Champions Trophy is that it is quite cutthroat,” he told SportsBoom.co.za.
“You have to be on it every match, there’s no room to actually come back if you have a bad start like the case is with England.”
“I think we were always coming into this match saying that it will possibly be a sort of quarterfinal type of situation, whoever wins that will go through.”
“It changes for them; they can’t go through anymore. To be sure, we’ll see what happens tomorrow. It’s a match against England, so we don’t need any extra motivation to play in England. Nothing actually changes for us really.”