India vs South Africa: Dean Elgar is set to retire after New Year’s Cape Town Test | Cricket News

Gritty South African Test opener Dean Elgar has called it a day on his Test career. On Friday, the southpaw would confirm that the second of the two-match Test series against India in Cape Town will be his final international red-ball game.
“The Indian home series will be my last, as I have decided to retire. 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 said.
Earlier in the month, it was reported Rapport newspaper that Test coach Shukri Conrad is considering selecting Neil Brand, South Africa A’s captain, as the opening batsman for the series in New Zealand, and Elgar is not in the long-term plans of the coach.

The newspaper also reported that Elgar was expected to lead a depleted South Africa team (who would be without their SAT20 players) in a two-Test series in New Zealand in February but that the talks between Elgar and Cricket South Africa didn’t go as smoothly as envisioned.
The 36-year-old, in 84 Tests, scored 5146 runs at an average of 37.3. He scored 13 tons, with the highest score of 199 runs against Bangladesh. “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,” said Elgar.
Elgar was not technically a sound batter, but he could score his runs through determination and unshakable willpower. He was often compared to South African legendary captain and opening batter Graeme Smith. Elgar also led the South African side and had seen decent success.
However, in the last few years, the stock of left-handers has kept falling sharply. He was unable to get results as a captain, nor could he deliver runs with the bat. Earlier this year, Temba Bavuma took over the reins for the Test matches.