'Don't think he's had much success in South Africa' - Dean Elgar brushes off Ravi Ashwin as threat ahead of upcoming series

While Ravi Ashwin has been one of the biggest match match-winners for India in the last few years, the South African Test captain Dean Elgar doesn’t seem to be too worried about him. He recently went on to say that his team isn’t going to solely focus on him, during the three-match Test series.

However, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that the offie has been one of the greatest bowlers of this generation. As a matter of fact, he has picked 427 Test wickets and needs just eight more wickets to go past Kapil Dev’s tally of 434 wickets. However, owing to the pace-friendly conditions in the rainbow nation, the 35-year-old hasn’t really done much in that part of the world.

While the Proteas opener didn’t seem to be intimidated by his legacy, he did say that they’d be mindful of the spinner. “India is a good side, they tick all the boxes. Ashwin is a quality bowler, probably one of the best off-spinners India has ever produced. We will be mindful of that, it will be a challenge to compete against them,” said Dean Elgar as quoted by Times Now.

It is important not to focus on just one player in their line-up: Dean Elgar

“I do not think Ravichandran Ashwin has had much success in South Africa which is okay for us. You cannot really compare to the success he has had against our batters in India because conditions are so different. We have to focus on our game plan, each player has been working on his individual game plan. It is important not to focus on just one player in their line-up,” said the Proteas red-ball skipper.

However, he lauded India’s bowlers and felt that they have an immensely improved bowling line-up. The 34-year-old yet felt that his side would feel a lot more familiar with the home conditions. Last but not the least, he was hopeful of his team taking the home advantage.

“India has an immensely improved bowling line-up. As I mentioned earlier, we will be mindful of the fact that we will be up against a very good bowling attack. Being in South Africa, we will feel a lot more accustomed to our own conditions. Hopefully, we can use that to our advantage,” he said.