Royal Challengers rope in South African Rossouw

The left-handed opener, touted as one of the brightest South African talents, disclosed on Tuesday night here that he has already signed up with the Bangalore side. The Vijay Mallya-owned IPL team is already brimming with players from South Africa with the likes Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Roelf van der Merwe and Dillon du Preez, apart from head coach Ray Jennings, dotting the squad. 

The attacking batsman, who set up Diamond Eagles’ victory over Sussex Sharks, has been a prolific scorer with three centuries and five half-centuries in 13 first-class matches at an average of 38.91. The 20-year-old is also the youngest and fastest South African to score 1000 first-class runs in their domestic circuit.   Rossouw struck 65 off 62 balls on Tuesday night laced with some attractive strokes and the youngster said the innings, coming in a crucial game, has boosted his confidence. “This innings has certainly given me a lot of confidence. It’s always good to score runs and it will help me in the next rounds,” Rossouw noted.

Eagles skipper Boeta Dippenar too was impressed with the batsman. “Rilee is the best young prospect for South Africa. I am happy with the way he played today,” he said.
Sussex Sharks skipper Michael Yardy also praised young Rossouw for his match-winning innings. “He played fantastic cricket. He struck the ball beautifully on this wicket,” said Yardy.

Dippenaar, meanwhile, said the Eagles’ experience in handling the Super Over came in handy for his side. “We have some experience of Super Overs during our domestic Twenty20 final.”