"He was given out wrongly" - Aakash Chopra on Rassie van der Dussen's dismissal during South Africa's chase in 2023 World Cup win vs Pakistan
Aakash Chopra has questioned Rassie van der Dussen's dismissal in South Africa's 2023 World Cup win against Pakistan.
The Men in Green set the Proteas a 271-run target after opting to bat first at Chepauk in Chennai on Friday, October 27. Although Van der Dussen was given out slightly controversially, Temba Bavuma and company eventually registered a nail-biting one-wicket win with 16 deliveries to spare.
Reflecting on South Africa's chase in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra disagreed with the umpire's decision to rule Van der Dussen out. He explained (5:40):
"The way Rassie van der Dussen was given out - what was that? He was given out wrongly in my opinion. Two umpire's call and from the naked eye it seemed like it was almost missing, but the umpire raised his finger as soon as the ball hit the pads. You do it so quickly when it is going to hit the middle of the middle stump."
While observing that Quinton de Kock's dismissal was slightly unfortunate, the former India opener pointed out that Temba Bavuma needs to make more substantial contributions to justify his place in the XI. He elaborated (4:25):
"Quinton de Kock was looking good till the time he was playing and then he got out. He actually got out to a very good shot. Temba Bavuma came in place of Reeza Hendricks. You have come but will have to score runs. 2023 might have been good for you but you haven't done anything in this tournament thus far."
Bavuma was caught by Saud Shakeel off a Mohammad Wasim short ball for a 27-ball 28. The South African skipper has aggregated 87 runs in four innings in the ongoing World Cup, with 35 being his best effort.
"If South Africa remained alive in this match, it was because of Aiden Markram" - Aakash Chopra
![Aiden Markram scored 91 runs off 93 deliveries. [P/C: AP]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/10/bfeca-16984677202784-1920.jpg?w=500)
Aakash Chopra credited Aiden Markram for keeping South Africa in the run chase. He said (4:40):
"Rassie van der Dussen played well till the time he was there but then he got out. If South Africa remained alive in this match, it was because of Aiden Markram, and they were alive for a long time."
Chopra concluded by highlighting that Pakistan failed to close out a game they should have won after Markram's dismissal. He stated:
"When he got out, there was a twist in the tale. It went in the air and Babar Azam took the catch. David Miller had gotten out before him and Marco Jansen also got out after hitting one or two sixes. The match gradually reached a stage where Pakistan should have closed the game but they could not."
South Africa needed 21 runs with three wickets in hand when Markram was dismissed. Although they lost Gerald Coetzee and Lungi Ngidi's wickets thereafter, Keshav Maharaj hit a boundary off Mohammad Nawaz's bowling to take his team over the line.