ENG vs SA | Ten years ago I was serving as 14th man for South Africa, reveals Rassie van der Dussen

Rassie van der Dussen, a dependable middle-order option for South Africa in the ODIs and T20Is is set to make his debut in Tests during the first Test of the four-match Test series against England.

The 30-year-old got nostalgic remembering his 10 years of journey from his first inclusion into the Test squad to eventually on the verge of Test debut. In 2009, he was with the team in the list of extras and he did field for few overs against a game against England. He described how this long wait shaped him as a player.

"It was the 16th [of December], and you get memories on your phone from Facebook from previous years about what happened. And it showed that 10 years ago I was here helping out in the changeroom as a sort of, 14th man. And that's where I met Boucher, Kallis, Smith... all these guys. And I had the whites on and I think I fielded for two or three overs. That memory came up from 10 years ago. South Africa were playing England right here. It made me reflect on the journey. I'm really happy."

With South Africa aiming a Test series victory over England at home, ending the drought of nearly about 20 years, Van der Dussen glimpses hope like few others. South Africa has been on the road of resurgence and after facing 3-0 whitewash against India they will have to pull out something miraculous to get back to winning terms.

Van der Dussen was the second-highest run getting in 2019 World Cup for SA after Faf Du Plessis. He scored 311 from 6 innings and 95 in his last ODI appearance against Australia in the tournament.

Having an impressive record in ODI and T20I cricket, he aims to become a “three-format” player, leaving a mark in the longest format as well.

"In the other formats you can hide some of your weaknesses and get away with it, whereas in Test cricket there's nowhere to hide. I'm really looking forward to that challenge. I've gone fairly well in the other two formats, and my next big challenge is to become a three-format player. Every level you go up there's different challenges, but the fundamentals stay the same. I'm going to have to be at my very best every moment and every ball that I'm out there; challenge myself every ball that I'm out there to be there for the next ball,” he asserted.

South Africa will take on England for the first Test of the series starting from 26 December in Centurion.