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South Africa's red-ball coach, Shukri Conrad on Sunday said that the lack of Test cricket in the coming months was partially the reason why batter Dean Elgar has chosen to retire from international cricket.
Former South African skipper Dean Elger is set to draw curtains on his cricketing career following the conclusion of the two-match Test series at home against India. The ICC on Friday revealed that Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced the 36-year-old's final dance in cricket against India. In a career that has spanned over 12 years, the left-handed batter will finish with 86 Tests and eight ODIs to his name. While reasons for Elgar's retirement after the second Test have not been revealed explicitly, it is understood that Elgar was not a part of Conrad's long-term plans in a scant Test schedule. Conrad voiced out that the calendar was only partially responsible for his retirement and there needs to be more Tests for South Africa if they want to groom youngsters for the future. "The fact that we haven't got much Test cricket is part of the reason we arrived at the decision we arrived at," Conrad said in Centurion, where South Africa will take on India, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. "Ideally, we would like to play more Test cricket because the more Test cricket we play, the more opportunity we have to groom cricketers for the future. If we have fewer Tests, that means I have very little opportunity to groom young cricketers. Sometimes we arrive at decisions like Dean's now because of a lack of cricket and a lack of opportunity to blood young players," he added. Proteas have played just two Tests in 2023, but next year they will be playing ten (one against India, two in New Zealand, two in the West Indies, two in Bangladesh, two against Sri Lanka at home and the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan). Instead of playing in these matches, Elgar chose to bow out in front of his home crowd at Cape Town for a perfect send-off. Conrad said that Dean is the epitome of what a South African cricketer and person is like and if the youngsters take up even half of his characteristics and qualities, the team will be good for the future. "Dean epitomises what a South African cricketer and almost what a South African person is about: resilience, dogfighting, pride in performance and that ability to never back down," Conrad said. "Those are all the elements that Dean has brought to his extensive international and first-class career and to all the sides he has played in. Hopefully, if some of the young bucks that are going to be stepping up into those big shoes, half of the characteristics and qualities that Dean had, then we will be in a good space," said Conrad. Conrad said that these qualities would not be lost after Dean's retirement since he was not a combatant personality. "Nice guys can be resilient as well. You don't have to be a knob to be resilient. The characteristics we display when we are on the field need to speak to what being South African looks like," Conrad said. "And Dean is a great guy. There is a lot of stuff being bandied about about his and my relationship and that is great for media hype but we are going to keep the core values of what a South African cricket team is about. And Dean epitomises that. The Tony's (Tony de Zorzi) and some of the nicest people in the world will always embody that and that is something we are going to continuously strive towards," he added. Conrad said that despite media reports about the lack of a good relationship between Elgar and Conrad, the duo discussed Batter's future together. "The conversation, the decision and the outcomes have been exactly how Dean and I discussed it. It is absolutely no surprise to me that we are at the place where Dean has decided to retire against India. I am very comfortable and thrilled to have Dean available for this series. It's a massive series for us as a team. It is a huge series for Dean. And it is going to be quite an emotional one. Hopefully, we can give him the perfect send-off as well," he said. During his career, Elgar amassed 5,146 runs with 13 tons and 23 fifties, and is South Africa's eighth-highest run-scorer in Test cricket. He is just 352 runs behind Mark Boucher, who is currently seventh on the list. He will have the opportunity to move past him in the upcoming two-Test clashes against India. Elgar assumed the captaincy role when Faf du Plessis was on paternity leave for the first Test of South Africa's 2017 tour of England and again for two Tests against Pakistan in 2019. Elgar was named permanent captain of the Test side in 2021. He led South Africa to famous series wins in the West Indies and against India at home; under his leadership, he drew a series against New Zealand in 2022. The favourable results saw them top the World Test Championship (WTC) table at that time. (ANI)
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