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Ahead of their all-import clash against England at Karachi, South Africa's right-hand batter Rassie van der Dussen said that the ongoing marquee event will possibly be the last major ICC tournament of his cricketing career.
The Proteas will lock horns with the Jos Buttler-led side in their last group stage match of the competition at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday. "It's definitely a possibility that it's my last ICC tournament. I'm not saying that with any preconceived ideas that I'll call time on it, or management will call time on my career. It's just the reality," van der Dussen said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. Further, the experienced cricketer said that for him, playing for his country has always been his biggest and only goal. "My ultimate goal has always been to play for the Proteas. People are asking me, Are you going to play leagues afterwards? I don't know. I don't know if the prospect of not playing for the Proteas goes away, I'll have that hunger to play in the leagues. Representing my country has always been one of my big and only goals, so if that falls away, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. If I'm offered another contract, I'll definitely take it and commit for that time period," van der Dussen added. In the end, the 36-year-old lauded the young batters of the team (Tristan Stubbs, Tony de Zorzi, and Matthew Breetzke) who are currently participating along with him in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025, which is taking place in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). "It's such a great thing that there's so many young players coming through, guys really playing well. A guy like Tristan Stubbs, he's sitting on the sidelines. Or Tony de Zorzi. And even if you go into the domestic structure, Matthew Breetzke came in and made that 150. You can even go further back; Lhuan-dre Pretorius just made a hundred against Western Province in the one-day cup. Ryan's [Rickelton] only starting out now actually so there's so many good players," van der Dussen stated. Recently, during the ODI Tri-Series with New Zealand and Pakistan, Breetzke achieved an elusive record as he became the first batter to score 150 runs during the men's ODI debut. The right-hand batter dethroned former West Indies cricketer Desmond Haynes' record of scoring 148 runs from 136 balls against Australia in his ODI debut in 1978. On the other hand, Rickelton continued his fine resurgence across all formats of the game in 2025, becoming the first South African player to score a century on his ICC Champions Trophy debut. The opener accomplished this feat during his side's ICC Champions Trophy campaign opener against Afghanistan at Karachi. Speaking about South Africa's qualification scenario, A win against England in their final group-stage fixture will be enough to see them through. The Temba Bavuma-led side can also progress if they lose against England and Australia defeat Afghanistan. However, if England win their final game and Afghanistan beat Australia, then the Proteas will be in a tight NRR contest with the Aussies, depending on their final results. (ANI)
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