In what came as a shocker for the Proteas in the ODI series with Bangladesh pulling off history, the hosts were simply relentless as they romped over the latter with extreme prejudice in the Test series. Dean Elgar led the charge while the rest of the team came forth with handsome figures that laid waste to the soaring visitors.
However, there were quite a few notable absentees from the tour as a handful of South African players are busy plying their trade in the Indian Premier League. The list of absentees included the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, Anrich Nortje, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram. However, this didn’t really dent the South African spirits as they registered a 332-run win against the visitors in the latest Test.
However, what has come to light as the latest shard of controversy is that South African skipper, Dean Elgar asked all these players to be a part of the Bangladesh series and not go for the IPL in the first place. Now coming as a trail of controversy to Markram’s statement, South African coach, Mark Boucher clearly mentioned that the players who were more interested in plying their trade in a foreign franchise league have vacated their spots in the national side.
“Their selection is out of my hands” – Dean Elgar
Elgar was heard quoting in a press conference, “I don’t know if those guys are going to be selected again, that’s out of my hands.” However, despite the harsh words of Boucher and Elgar, notably there is an agreement between CSA and BCCI where the former makes its players available for the IPL despite international assignments.
The rich vein of form that Dean Elgar has been in, continued against South Africa with Temba Bavuma chipping in with his fiery brand of cricket. Elgar aced the run-scoring charts with 227 runs while Bavuma followed suit with 194.
Amongst the bowlers, it was Keshav Maharaj who was in fine form that saw him scalping 16 wickets in a span of two matches while Simon Harmer claimed 13 crucial wickets to make all the right noises.
