Dean Elgar

Dean Elgar is a South African cricketer who mainly features in the Test team for the Proteas. He was born on 11 June 1987 in Welkom, Orange Free State Province, South Africa.

Elgar is an opening batsman who bats left handed. He can also bowl slow left-arm orthodox.

Background

Elgar was awarded the South African District Player of the Year trophy for his magnificent performance in the year of 2005. While playing for the Free State team, he made his debut in the domestic circle on 23 February 2006 against Northern Cricket Association.

Though he was not up to the mark in his initial games, he proved himself with a series of decent performances later on. He also led the South Africa team at the 2006 U-19 World Cup. In 2007, South African franchise team, Knights signed him to play in Sunfoil Series and Momentum One Day Cup.

Debut

Elgar remained a promising performer since his domestic debut but he had to wait six years to play his first international game. In 2012, he was included in the South African squad for ODI series against Sri Lanka but couldn't play any game due to an injury.

Later in the year, he made his international debut in a rain-abandoned ODI against England. In the second ODI, he scored 15 runs and also took a wicket. He was splendid in the field too, taking two magnificent catches and winning the match for his team.

His Test debut also came in the same year on 30 November. Playing against Australia in his maiden test, he got out on duck in both the innings. On 12 January 2013, Elgar hit his first international test century against New Zealand.

Rise to glory

During the 2015 tour of India, he showed his fighting spirit in a couple of games, scoring runs on the ridiculously spinning track. He also took four wickets in a Test match at Mohali.

In the first Test of the series against Australia at Perth in November 2016, Elgar scored 127 and had a partnership of 250 runs with JP Duminy. This partnership was South Africa’s second highest partnership against Australia which eventually won the match for them.

Coming as an opener over the years, Elgar has proved to be an asset for the team. His composure and technique against the swinging new ball and footwork against spin made him a threat to the opposition.

On 28 September 2017, during a Test match against Bangladesh, he missed his double ton by one run but his solid 199 runs led South Africa to a huge victory. Later, he scored one more century in the very next game of the series.

Club career

Elgar has also played some County Cricket for Surrey and Somerset. In 2015, he played two first-class games for Surrey, scoring 161 runs at an average of 53.67.

In 2017, playing for the Somerset, he scored 519 runs in six List A games at an astonishing average of 103.8.

Captaincy

In July 2017, South African captain Faf du Plessis had to miss the first Test of the series against England following the birth of his first child. Elgar was named the stand-in captain by the management to lead the team at Lord's. However, he had to face a huge defeat by 211 runs in his first game as a captain.

Records

On 28 December 2015, Elgar became the only second cricketer for South Africa to carry his bat in a Test inning. He remained not out throughout the innings, scoring 118.

On 11 March 2017, against New Zealand, he became the first South African opener ever to play over 200 deliveries in both the innings of a Test match.

Elgar has 2,934 runs at an average of 41.32 including 10 centuries in 47 Tests. He has also got 14 test wickets in his pocket.