Proteas’ hundred hero Rossouw kept believing through his failures
Image: Pankaj Nangia/Gallo Images
Proteas top order batsman Rilee Rossouw says his self-belief was a major factor in achieving a maiden T20I century in SA’s 49-run victory over India in the third and final match in Indore on Tuesday.
Rossouw, coming off two ducks in the opening two matches, provided the perfect response when he smashed an unbeaten 100 off just 48 balls including eight sixes and seven fours.
The victory, albeit in a 2-1 series defeat, got the Proteas back on track in their preparations for the ICC Men's World Cup in Australia starting later this month.
Rossouw, whose previous best of 96 came against England only a few months ago, said it was a good feeling to finally tick off the milestone.
“It was a special innings for me, something you dream of as a little boy, and I am very proud to have played it,” he said after the match.
“As a professional sportsman you are going to have bad times. It is just about backing yourself and having confidence and belief in your ability, no matter what form you are in, because those are two separate things.
“I had a chat to our assistant coach about form and confidence, which is something I really believe in, [because] confidence plays a big role in scoring runs.”
Rossouw said it was also pleasing to see Quinton de Kock find form again.
“What actually got me in the mood was one of the shots he played where he stepped across and hit it for six.
“That got my spirits going, that’s where I felt like tonight was going to be something special.”
Rossouw said there were a few lessons SA took from the first two matches and they were able to harness them in the final encounter.
“In the first game, we were a bit shell-shocked with how India swung the ball, so we went back to the drawing board and put pen to paper as to how we would approach the next few games.
“In the second game we learnt a lot with the ball, and tonight [Tuesday] we put that performance together with bat and ball as the coach asked for. So there are certainly a few lessons we took from this series.”
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