Bangladesh need to harden up, play game at a level they're not used to: Dean Elgar

South Africa skipper Dean Elgar has asked the Bangladesh side to “harden up” and accept the tough talk of Test cricket. To note, the Bangladesh team had lodged an official complaint about both home-side conduct and the umpiring during the first Test match played at the Kingsmead, Durban.

Even though Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque has denied complaining about the excessive war of words after the Durban match, the South African captain has emphasized the fact that it was an overreaction from the visitors, especially since he felt Bangladesh was equally involved in sledging when the home-side was batting.

I don’t think they are justified: Dean Elgar

“I don’t think they’re justified, whatsoever. We play the game hard, and if anything we were just giving back what we were getting when we were batting. It is Test cricket. It’s a man’s environment when it comes to playing at this level, and I intend to play the game hard. By no means did we swear or use foul language towards the Bangladeshi cricketers, because we respect them,” said Elgar during a press conference.

“We were just giving them back what we were receiving. I think they need to harden up and play the game at a level that maybe they’re not used to. We received it first, and we responded in that way. One of my messages to the players is that we do everything with dignity, and we don’t throw our badges or our name away. I didn’t see any bad sledging out there, even from their side. This is Test cricket, and we need to dry our eyes sometimes,” the skipper added

To note, the visitors were completely dominated by the South African Test side during the first match. After being invited to bat first, the home side made 367 runs in their first innings. In reply, Bangladesh could only manage to score 298 runs.

South Africa in their second innings was bowled out for 204, giving a target of 274 to the visitors. However, Bangladesh crumbled like a pack of cards making only 53 runs in their second innings. The home side won the match by a margin of 220 runs with left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj being adjudged as player of the match.