South Africa batter Rassie van der Dussen retires from international cricket

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South Africa top-order batter Rassie van der Dussen has announced his retirement from international cricket. Van der Dussen, who was on a hybrid central contract with Cricket South Africa (CSA), was not re-signed for the 2026-27 season and has not played for the national team in seven months. He will continue to represent his domestic side, Lions, play in franchise cricket and has committed to “teaching and mentoring the next generation of South African cricketers.”

In an Instagram post on Thursday morning, van der Dussen wrote: “It is with a proud heart and a profound sense of gratitude that I announce my retirement from international cricket. To wear the Proteas jersey is a feat that demands a level of resilience and dedication that both tests, and rewards you in the most incredible way. To have played for my Country has been the greatest honour of my life.”

He thanked administrators at Lions, coaches at CSA, his agent Chris Cardoso and wife, Lara, as well as the “people of South Africa and the fans,” and offered advice to young players to “dream big and give absolutely everything you have to achieve your dreams.” He signed off with an emotional, “I love South Africa, and I love cricket.”

Van der Dussen played 18 Tests, 71 ODIs and 57 T20Is for South Africa between October 2018 and August 2025 and finishes with their second-highest ODI average overall, behind AB de Villiers. It’s in the fifty-over format that he made the biggest impact, with six hundreds and 17 fifties, including five in his first nine matches in early 2019. He was selected for South Africa’s ODI World Cup squad that year and retained in it even when de Villiers, who had earlier retired, offered his services for the tournament.

Despite being at his first global event, van der Dussen, who was 30 at the time, addressed the issues around selection head on and acknowledged that allowing de Villiers back into the set-up “would have influenced me directly.” South Africa had a disastrous tournament, and were the first team to be knocked out, but van der Dussen was one of the few standout performers. He was their second-leading run-scorer at the tournament, with three half-centuries.

He went to score two centuries at the 2023 event, where he was again South Africa’s second-highest run-scorer and a hat-trick of half-centuries at the 2025 Champions Trophy, where he was their leading run-scorer. Those were his last ODIs.

Van der Dussen also played in one T20 World Cup, the 2021 edition, and captained them eight times in the shortest format. That includes a three-match series against West Indies ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup and in a tri-series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand last July. He was included in South Africa’s winter tour to Australia last August but has since not played for the national side, and seemed to have accepted his fate late last year. Ahead of season four of the SA20, van der Dussen said “my dad told me a year ago that if my career had to stop now, I can be really proud of what I’ve achieved.” Losing his contract appears to have put the full stop on that.

It is perhaps in Tests that van der Dussen left the most unsaid, after a promising start to his career in the summer of 2019. He scored three half-centuries (one, a 98) in his first four Tests and held together South Africa’s line-up during a period of transition. He went on to play 14 more Tests, with three more fifties, but did not score a Test hundred. He was dropped after South Africa’s tour to Australia in the 2021-2022 season and has not played a first-class game since. With his focus on white-ball cricket, van der Dussen has been a key performer for the Lions in the domestic T20 and one-day cup and for MICT in the SA20.

He is likely to continue to be involved in the game as a senior player and potentially in a mentoring or coaching role in future. “Rassie’s legacy in the green and gold extends beyond his on-field performances. He was a strong senior voice in the changeroom who helped drive team culture and standards, always leading by example,” Enoch Nkwe, current director of national teams and high performance, who was van der Dussen’s Lions’ coach said. “”He truly embodied what it meant to be a Protea. He put the team first and always supported those around him. We thank him for everything he has contributed to the badge.”

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