South Africa’s Dean Elgar performs a shot on the third day of the first Test cricket match between India and South Africa, at SuperSport Park Stadium.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Cricket will miss Dean Elgar. A tenacious opener, he served South African cricket for over a decade.
The second Test in opposition to India, beginning at Cape Town’s picturesque Newlands Cricket Ground on Wednesday, can be his final. And he can be the captain for his swan track (he is standing in for the injured Temba Bavuma). It was as if future willed the opener to have this honour. Few males have held a cricket bat with as a lot pleasure and grit.
Elgar desires to exit on a profitable notice.
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“There is no bigger honour than to captain your country irrespective of who you are playing against, but being against India maybe adds a little bit more flavour to it because India are the powerhouse nation in the world,” mentioned Elgar on the eve of his closing Test match. “We currently see it as a great opportunity where I can influence and try and get a 2-0 win. It’s about taking those players and we are all moving in the same direction. So, hopefully, it all works out for us and we are able to secure a series win.”
Elgar isn’t pondering an excessive amount of about the event. “For me, it is business as usual,” he mentioned. “I think the emotions will only set in after this game. It is a massive Test for us, being our highlight of the year: the New Year’s Test at Newlands. For me, it is another game where we really have to make a solid start. We will worry about the retirement afterwards.”
He is, nevertheless, frightened about the standing of Test cricket in South Africa, although. The South African crew that may tour New Zealand for a two-Test sequence has solely seven capped gamers, as a result of lots of the stars are unavailable due to the SA20 match.
THE GIST
Elgar desires to end his Test profession on a profitable notice
The tenacious opener has admitted that he is a fanatic of the longest model of the recreation
He feels that the home-and-away Test sequence format has to be reintroduced
“Yes, the team for New Zealand is not ideal for the conversation of how I view Test cricket,” he mentioned. “The situation we have been put in is not ideal. It is a little sad it has gone in that direction. What has happened behind the scenes is totally out of our control. It is out of the players’ hands, it is out of our coaches’ hands, the team management’s hands. Our guys need to be exposed more to playing against powerhouse Test nations. Our young guys need to be exposed to more Test cricket.”
He admitted he was a Test fanatic. “The future is up to administrators making right decisions for the players and the longevity of formats, especially the Test one,” he mentioned. “As long as I am around, I am going to be a Test fanatic and I think a lot of our guys are Test fanatics.”
For Elgar, Test cricket is his World Cup. “Maybe only a World Cup win is bigger than Tests, but I have never had that opportunity, and this is my World Cup because it is my arena where I want to win,” he mentioned. “That has always been my mentality ever since I was a young kid.”
Looking forward to his closing Test, he mentioned: “It actually looks like a pretty good cricket wicket. Newlands has always been a place where if you apply yourself, you are going to do well. It usually does produce a really good wicket.”
About the manner the younger Indian batters struggled at Centurion, he mentioned: “I think it was the conditions. If we were playing in India, we would have struggled. That is why the home-and-away Test series needs to still have a place. Playing in India is incredibly tough for new batters. A guy like Virat is vastly experienced around the world and he showed that he can bat in our conditions; he has done it in the past before; he has got a good record in South Africa.”
Like Elgar, one other wonderful opener’s profession is coming to an finish. David Warner’s final Test for Australia, in opposition to Pakistan, additionally begins on Wednesday. The Aussie additionally performs cricket the laborious manner, like Elgar.
“Warner plays the game the way that he was brought up with. I play the game the way I was brought up with… a little more harder mentality and putting a massive price on my wicket,” he mentioned.
Looking again at his lengthy stint in worldwide cricket, he mentioned he didn’t fear about the numbers. “I care about wins, the series wins… they are the greatest memories that you can ever share with your team.”