Dean Elgar will not play international cricket after the India series, and South Africa will find his enormous boots difficult to fill.
South Africa will be without Dean Elgar for the next Test cricket match after the India series. The same Elgar looked awkward and bored on the sidelines, but at the end of the day he was always there, even if the rest of the team let him down.
This is not a metaphor. Apart from Desmond Haynes, Elgar is the only person to have carried the bat in a Test innings three times, and the only person to have carried the bat twice in the same calendar year.
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But Elgar’s career was about more than just three heroic accomplishments. He is one of only eight South Africans to have played 5,000 Tests. Of course, we can also mention his average of 37.28 points, but this may seem insignificant compared to the numbers of his famous compatriot. But using this one parameter of his to evaluate Elgar is not enough to explain why he is special.
Elgar averaged 46.16 in 3,278 Test runs for his country. His starting numbers are 47.30 and he has 3,075 runs. No South African opener has a higher average, scoring just his 1,200 runs at home. That list includes Gary Kirsten, Herschel Gibbs and Graham Smith.
Evaluating counterpoint is not difficult. These races are finally back. Now that you’re used to the conditions, shouldn’t the point race be easier?
This is a valid point, but South Africa is not a typical “homeland”. Apart from Ireland, South Africa’s overall Test batting average was the lowest of any country (28.93). Even though he changed this limit in early 2015, 26.17 is still the lowest.
Transitioning to the post-COVID-19 era will reduce the average to 24.19, but the ranking will remain the same. In the nine Test matches played here during this period, fast bowlers on South African soil each took 247 wickets at 23.90 wickets, which is also the lowest in the world.
Obviously, familiarity with the situation does not significantly reduce hostility. The usual concept of home advantage does not apply to South African batsmen, especially since the pandemic.
Surprisingly, Elgar also peaked in the post-COVID-19 period, scoring 834 runs at 55.50 in nine Test matches in South Africa. Among batsmen who have appeared in more than two games, only Themba Bavuma (705, 54.23) comes close. The closest was Aiden Markram who scored 461 at 38.41 and is the only opening batsman to score over 200 for South Africa in the same period. If you limit it to the opening game, there is no one in this country who averages 40 points during that period when there is a cutoff.
In summary, he consistently scored despite almost every other opener failing.
The Dean Elgar Bridge
Throughout history, teams have had an aura of invincibility at home, but rarely on the road. South Africa achieved this between their tour of Sri Lanka in 2006 and their tour of India in 2015/16. Elgar made his debut on this stage in 2012-13, winning his number six his two in every innings.
Some of his teammates in that match – Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander – were the undefeated South Africans. played an important role during the recording. They also left one after another in the following years – after the debut of Caris in 2013, Smith in 2014, de Villiers and Morkel in 2018, Amla and Stein in 2019, Philander in 2021 and Elgar in 2021. du Plessis and Quinton de Kock. .
While it is true that Bavuma has been strengthened with the arrival of Kagiso Rabada, Elgar has been the one constant in the South African Test team’s slump.
The year before the global lockdown, South Africa suffered their first home defeat against an Asian team, losing 2-0 to Sri Lanka. In India, it was swept away. Despite taking the lead, he again lost 3-1 at home to England.
Elgar led South Africa intermittently, but took over full-time when de Kock retired. When India arrived in the 2021-22 season, Elgar’s first Test match saw little recognition from the team. Apart from de Kock and Bavuma, no one played Test cricket during South Africa’s unbeaten run overseas.
India won the Test series in Australia earlier this year and led 2-1 in the series in England. Their fast bowlers were the key to their success. South Africa’s best chance was to mitigate them. Elgar overcame the challenge with 1 and 77, 28 and 96 not out, 3 and 30 in a low-scoring series dominated by pace.
He scored three consecutive 50 points against Bangladesh. In the 2022 Lord’s Pace encounter, Elgar played his part with a solid 47 points at the top as England were defeated on 165 and 149 points. Above all, Elgar’s importance to South Africa is marked by how Africa succumbed when Elgar failed.
For example, consider Christchurch in 2021/22, where South Africa scored 95 and 111 points. Or 151 and 179 at Old Trafford in 2022. Or the first innings of 118 at the Oval afterwards. Or Australia’s four consecutive innings totals of 152, 99, 189, 204. When Elgar failed, like clockwork, the entire batting lineup also failed.
After the departure of the South African giants of the 2000s, the next group rose up. When the 2010 group left, Elgar, as opening pitcher and captain, was responsible for watching over a struggling team and getting it back on track as best as possible.
In other words, there is a big hole in Elgar.
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