IND vs SA: Former South African captain Dean Elgar is set to draw curtains to his 11-year-long international cricket at the culmination of the upcoming India vs South Africa two-game test series at home. The two-game test series between India and South Africa starts on Tuesday in Centurian.
Dean Elgar will play the penultimate test of his career at his home ground – at the SuperSport Park in Centurian, starting December 26 – but his last dance will come in Cape Town in the New Year Test.
His 11-year-long career saw several ups and downs, especially in the shortest formats of the game, but it was his test career that kept him rolling all through. His ODI game, may not necessarily be one of the best, but when it comes to the traditional format, Elgar is one of the highly skilled players South African cricket produced.
In the 84-test so far, Elgar has mustered 5146 runs at an average of 37.3. The left-handed batter notched up 23 half-centuries and 13 centuries during his stay in the middle in the longest format of the game.
To highlight his memorable outings, Elgar scored 199 runs against Bangladesh in Potchefstroom in 2017 – his highest score in the test format. His career also highlights a fantastic 160-run knock against India in Vishakhapatnam against the likes of R Ashwin and Jadeja.
The batter was instrumental in taking South Africa to a 3-1 victory against Australia back in 2018 in their own backyard.
Elgar was awarded test captaincy by Cricket South Africa (CSA) back in 2021 and under his eyes the Proteas went on to own several accolades. They finished third in the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 cycle and defeated India by 2-1 in the home test series.
Reflecting on his memorable career, Elgar said it was his dream to play the game of cricket, but having to do it for 12 years for his country is nothing less than the wildest dream.
“Playing the game of cricket has always been a dream of mine but having the opportunity to represent your country is the ultimate,” Elgar said in his statement. “Having had the privilege to do it for 12 years internationally is simply beyond my wildest dreams. It has been an incredible journey that I have been fortunate enough to have.
“As they say, ‘all good things come to an end’, and the Indian home series will be my last, as I have made the decision to retire from our beautiful game. A game that has given me so much. The Cape Town Test will be my last. My favourite stadium in the world. A place I scored my first Test run against New Zealand and hopefully my last too.”
The India vs South Africa 2 matches test series begins in Centurian on December 26, the two teams will then advance to Cape Town for the second test of the series, starting January 3.
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For more details head to ICC’s official website.
