Dean Elgar 'sad' after South Africa's alarming Test disinclination

Cricket South Africa (CSA) is facing a lot of backlash for selecting a third-string squad for the two-match Test series against New Zealand, which is slated to begin on February 4. Notably, due to the second edition of the SA20, the majority of the first-team cricketers are not available for selection and that has forced CSA to take such a step.

Ahead of playing the final Test match of his career, Dean Elgar says that he is ‘sad’ with the new development and mentioned that the situation isn’t ideal. He added that the situation is out of the control of all the players as they are focusing on what lies ahead. 

“The situation we’ve been put in is not ideal. What happens behind the scenes is totally out of our control. It’s out of our hands, the coaches’ hands, the team management’s hands. It’s sad that it’s gone in that direction. As players we don’t have control over that, we have to focus on what we can focus on,” Elgar was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. 

It’s up to players to go out and win and show the hunger for this format: Elgar

A lot of players, including captain Neil Brand, are set to make their debut during the New Zealand series. Speaking on the same, Elgar mentioned that it’s the perfect time for the cricketers to show their hunger to play in the longest format of the game and added that it is up to the players to keep Test cricket alive.

“It’s up to players to go out and win and show the hunger for this format. As long as I’m around I’m going to be a Test fanatic and I think a lot of our guys are Test fanatics. We can fight and promote the format as much as you can but it’s up to the guys who count the beans. Hopefully, there will be a bit of sanity in the decisions for our players going forward,” he said.