Former South Africa skipper Dean Elgar to retire after Test series against India – Here’s a look at his journey
“All good things come to an end” is the perfect adage to describe the scenario of South African cricket fans as former South Africa skipper Dean Elgar has decided to hang his boots from cricket Centurion. The cricketer will retire following the conclusion of the two-match Test series at home against India.
ICC on Friday mentioned that Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced the 36-year-old’s final dance in cricket against India. In a career that has spanned over 12 years, the left-handed batter will finish with 86 Tests to his name.
“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,” Elgar said.
“As they say, ‘all good things come to an end’, and the Indian home series will be my last, as I have decided 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 where I scored my first Test run against New Zealand and hopefully my last too,” Elgar added.
Dean Elgar: The South African cricket maestro
During his career, Elgar scored a whopping 5,146 runs and he is South Africa’s eighth-highest run-scorer in Test cricket. With just 352 runs behind Mark Boucher, he is currently seventh on the list. Further, Elagr will have the opportunity to move past him in the upcoming two-Test clashes against India.
Elgar made his debut in Perth back in 2012 on South Africa’s Australia tour, a time when the Proteas were ranked No. 1 in the world. He scored a century in his third match and went on to score a total of 13 tons, against all Test opposition other than Pakistan and Zimbabwe.
His favorite opponent was Sri Lanka, when he scored a match-winning hundred in Galle in 2014, followed by two more tons in 2017 and 2021. Elgar assumed the captaincy role when Faf du Plessis was on paternity leave, on South Africa’s 2017 tour of England and again for two Tests against Pakistan in 2019.
Elgar was named permanent captain of the Test side in 2021. He led South Africa to famous series wins in the West Indies and against India at home, under his leadership he drew a series against New Zealand in 2022.
(With inputs from agencies)
