South Africa opening batsman Dean Elgar has been a regular member of the Test team ever since the past two or three years. As per his latest interview released by Cricket South Africa (CSA), Elgar has put his hands up for the leadership position. The 32-year old is the second candidate to come forward, expressing his desire to become Proteas’ next Test captain.
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Having taken over the reins of limited-overs teams, Quinton de Kock was widely expected to captain the Test team as well. However, Graeme Smith, the director of the national team, made it clear that De Kock wouldn’t be the skipper as they didn’t wanted to overburden him. Faf Du Plessis stepped down from his position after a home series loss to England by 3-1 in the four-match series.
Dean Elgar understands that it wouldn’t be easy to get to that position; however, he claims that it comes to him naturally. Elgar mentioned that he has captained teams from junior till the franchise level and that leading South Africa would mean a lot to him. The southpaw lead the side on two occasions in 2017 and 2019. The match against England in 2017 resulted in a loss while the Proteas won when he captained against Pakistan last year.
“It’s definitely not an easy journey being a test captain but I think leadership is something that comes extremely naturally to me. I’ve captained teams in the past, right up from school level to provincial level and at franchise level. I enjoyed it extremely and if I was asked to take on the captaincy it’s definitely something I would think long and hard about because it would mean a lot to me.” Dean Elgar said as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Aiden Markram also expressed his interest apart from Dean Elgar:
Apart from Elgar, Aiden Markram also conveyed that he would be interested in taking the job. The 25-year old is also one of the prime contenders, having led South Africa to the 2014 U-19 Cricket World Cup title. However, Markram must concentrate on retaining his place in the side.
In the first 15 Tests, the right-handed batsman averaged 45.80; however, it plummetted to 18.30 with 183 runs in the next five. In the home series against England, the 25-year old featured only in the first Test, scoring 20 and 2 in two innings. He missed the next three due to a fractured finger. The next red-ball series South Africa play is in July against West Indies which includes three matches.
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