Former South Africa captain Dean Elgar is set to retire from international cricket after the two-match Test series against India. Elgar, who captained South Africa in 17 Test matches, played 92 matches for his country across formats and is the 8th leading run-scorer in the red-ball format. Elgar, who made his debut for the Proteas in 2012 will bring an end to his 12-year career and if he plays both matches, he would have played 86 Tests for South Africa joint-11th for his side alongside Morne Morkel.
In a Cricket South Africa (CSA) release, Elgar said, "As they say, 'all good things come to an end', and the Indian home series will be my last, as I have made the decision to retire from our beautiful game. A game that has given me so much. The Cape Town Test will be my last. My favourite stadium in the world. A place I scored my first Test run against New Zealand and hopefully my last too.
"Playing the game of cricket has always been a dream of mine but having the opportunity to represent your country is the ultimate. Having had the privilege to do it for 12 years internationally is simply beyond my wildest dreams. It has been an incredible journey that I have been fortunate enough to have," Elgar added.
The 36-year-old then thanked his parents, his wife, his children, his sponsors and Cricket South Africa for all the support throughout his career and mentioned that his focus is now entirely on doing well in the two Test matches against India and winning the series. Elgar, who was replaced by Temba Bavuma as captain in Test matches earlier this year, was made the full-time skipper in 2021. Under Elgar, South Africa won a series in the West Indies, against India and drew against New Zealand. South Africa lost to England 1-2 and Australia 0-3 before he was removed from the leadership role.
Elgar has scored 5,146 runs in 84 matches at an average of 37.28 including 13 centuries and 23 fifties.
