Most talented batsman? Elgar on De Bruyn

While in the wilderness, the softspoken batter never lost hope of returning to the Proteas

● Titans middle-order batter Theunis de Bruyn, due to make his second stint for the Proteas, wants to make it count this time.

Dropped without explanation after the ill-fated tour to India in 2019, the righthander suffered a huge confidence blow as he disappeared into the obscurity of domestic cricket.

Three years on, 30-year-old De Bruyn is back with the Proteas as a like-for-like replacement for injured Keegan Petersen and he believes he is a better player than he was in 2019, when he scored only 82 runs in five innings during the 3-0 series loss to India.

In the Proteas’ last Test match against England at the Oval in September, the top five comprised of captain Dean Elgar, Sarel Erwee, Petersen, Ryan Rickelton and Khaya Zondo and there will be changes Down Under.

De Bruyn is a shoo-in to start in the first of three Tests against the Aussies in Brisbane on December 17 as Rickelton and Petersen have not travelled because of ankle and hamstring injuries, respectively.

“It was tough for various reasons; you want to do much better when you get the opportunity to play for your country and I did not,” he said about 2019.

“You almost go into the wilderness. The last few years have been interesting times but I learned a lot about myself. Back then communication was scarce and it was not explained to me why I was dropped.

“I am not sure if I am going to play in Australia but if I get an opportunity to play I am going to enjoy it.”

While in the wilderness, De Bruyn never lost hope of returning to the national team.

“If I gave up and didn’t believe that I can play for SA again, I probably would have stopped. The fact that I am still playing tells you that I didn’t give up. You learn more about yourself during times of challenge.

“I would not want it any other way, it has moulded me into the cricketer that I have become and I am proud of it. The game has its own pressures, so I know myself better and the way I want to approach it is different.

“That [knowing myself better] will probably make me feel less pressure. I want to do well, but you can’t control what the outcome is going to be. You can only give it your best shot and see what happens.

“I can’t control team selection, I can’t control all those things. Hopefully when we get to Australia there will be more clarity on roles so individual players are able to prepare.”

Before the team departure to Australia this week, Proteas Test captain Dean Elgar praised De Bruyn for overcoming personal challenges to return to the side while at the same time hinting that he may start.

“He has come a long way since his last international encounter, he has gone through a lot of personal things along the journey.

“That has really taught him a lot more than just cricket, but from a personal point of view he has transformed himself a lot, which is great to see. As a cricketer, he is someone I always thought he is — probably the most talented player in the country.

“He just has that extra gear that not a lot of players have around the country where he can take bowling attacks apart and he is definitely in the mix for selection.”

De Bruyn said they would be under pressure to score big runs in the three-match series. “If you look at my record, there is nothing impressive but if you put it into context that the 12 matches that I played, I played in every position, from one to nine and I have not played consecutive matches.

“It has been a rollercoaster ride that took its toll on me mentally and I doubted myself, but lessons were learnt from that. I want to create my own identity and Australia is a place where hundreds can be scored,” he said, stipulating his preferred position.

“I would like to bat at four, I have been batting at four for the Titans this season and I am enjoying it.”

He has one century from 12 Tests. Maybe there are more to come from the soft-spoken De Bruyn in his second incarnation as a Test player.

As a cricketer, he is someone I always thought he is — probably the most talented player in the country