In India, you get to know yourself as a person, says South African opener Dean Elgar

It’s been a struggle for South Africa thus far in their three-match Test series versus India. Barring the centuries from Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock, and some lower-order resistance, the Proteas haven’t posed much threat to the hosts. Moreover, they have been jolted with a blow ahead of the third Test in Ranchi as Keshav Maharaj has been ruled out to a shoulder injury.

Having already conceded an unassailable 2-0 lead to Virat Kohli and Co, all the visitors could do now is to salvage some pride. In the meantime, Elgar, who is currently South Africa’s leading run-scorer in the series, reckons that one can discover a lot about their personality while being on a challenging tour of India. The southpaw deems the tour to be a good learning curve for any cricketer.

There is still a lot to play for: Dean Elgar

“It’s a challenging tour. You get stretched as a person, you get stretched as a cricketer, I think you get to know yourself quite a lot as a person when you come to the smaller places where the hotels are maybe not as good, and you get challenged on the field. It’s always a good learning curve coming to India,” the left-handed Elgar was quoted as saying in Deccan Chronicle.

Elgar scored 160 in the first innings of the Vizag Test and then had scores of 2, 6 and 48 in the remaining innings. Despite not having any chance of winning the series, Elgar doesn’t want to consider the last Test as a dead rubber. The same is for the reason that it’s a part of the ICC World Test Championship. A victory would help the Proteas open their account with 40 points.

“Back in the day it was always a bit of a dead rubber game but now with the World Test Championships around, we still have points to play for. We can still get 40 points by following our process against India in the last Test. That’s something we can’t neglect going into this game. There is still a lot to play for,” Elgar added.

This isn’t Elgar’s maiden tour of India. Back in 2015, he played four Tests in the country and could only manage 137 runs at a dismal average of 19.57. India are presently comfortably placed on top of the table with 200 points from four victories. The final Tests starts on October 19.

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