South Africa Test opener Dean Elgar has thrown his hat in the ring to lead the team in the red-ball format. The southpaw believes that the experience under his belt will help him to make a strong contender for the role. It’s been over three months since the veteran batsman Faf de Plessis stepped down from the captaincy, and there hasn’t been any official announcement about the Test captaincy since.
Dean Elgar throws his hat into the ring
Wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock has taken the reins of white-ball captaincy. However, South African director of cricket Graeme Smith had earlier stated that the gloveman wouldn’t be leading the Test side. Interestingly, Elgar’s opening partner Aiden Markram has also expressed his desire to lead the Proteas unit in whites.
“I have done the captaincy thing in the past and I have done it from school level and provincial level‚ and now in a few professional franchise teams‚ and I have extremely enjoyed it. If I was asked to do the captaincy‚ definitely I will think hard and long about it because it would mean a lot to me.” Elgar, who will be turning 33 next month, mentioned in an interview released by Cricket South Africa.
Since making his Test debut against Australia in 2012, the compact batter went on to earn a total of 63 Test caps. He has scored close to 4000 runs at an average of well over 38. The same can’t be said about his white-ball venture, as the cricketer has managed to play a mere eight ODIs.
Elgar has had a couple of stints as captain in the past. He has proved his mettle in domestic cricket. He feels that the exposure of playing with some of the stalwarts have helped him in an immense manner. He adds that it has been a great learning curve for him and mentions that he has been fortunate to be a part of the larger scheme of things. Elgar believes that he will continue to grow as an athlete and as well as a person. He wants to pass on his knowledge to the younger ones as that will make the transition in the South African cricket smoother and beneficial.
