Veteran South African opener Dean Elgar has announced his retirement from international cricket after the two-Test match series against India. The first encounter will be played from 26th December at SuperSport Park, Centurion and the second match will take place at Newlands, Cape Town from 3rd January 2024.
Elgar has been the backbone of the South African batting lineup. He played a key for South Africa in the test series played during 2022 where he scored valuable knocks in the 2nd innings of the 2nd Test match at Johannesburg. He then played another brilliant innings during the 3rd Test match at Newlands and helped South Africa register a 2-1 series victory. During the series, he was appointed as the captain and led the hosts to a famous comeback win after losing his first match at Centurion.
He would be looking to end his remarkable career with brilliant performances in the 2 test matches against a strong Indian bowling lineup. South Africa will be playing its first Test series during the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle.
“Dean Elgar represents a rare brand of cricketer in an age where everything is about innovation and power-hitting. He is a real old-school cricketer that can dig in, absorb and fight. I have no doubt the game will dearly miss him,” Nkwe said. “He has always given everything for his country and never showed any fear, no matter the opposition. He was always there to take on the challenge, leading as captain when the country needed him most.”
Under his captaincy, the South Africa cricket team drew the away series against New Zealand at 1-1 and then won the home series at 2-1 during the 2021-23 World Test championship cycle. They lost the away series against England and Australia which led South Africa to miss the finals as India and Australia played the grand finale.
Dean Elgar’s brilliant performances with the bat for South Africa
Dean Elgar had been the backbone of the South African team. He made his Test debut against Australia in 2012 at Perth. His performance stood with 84 matches (149 innings) with 5146 runs including 13 centuries and 23 half-centuries including a best score of 199.
His performance stood out in tough conditions that helped South Africa win matches with solid batting. He played just 8 ODI matches with just 104 runs. It will be interesting to see how he performs.
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