“If they have to get me out, they’ll have to break something in my body”: Dean Elgar’s father recounts son’s words the night before South Africa defeated India in Johannesburg Test

Dean Elgar’s father recounts his son’s remarks the night before South Africa handed India their maiden loss in Johannesburg in Tests.

Team India were on Thursday, handed their first ever Test match defeat at The Wanderers, Johannesburg by 7 wickets in what was a grueling fight between the two sides almost the entirety of the 2nd Test, barring Day 4.

While the match was no less than a see-saw battle, the hosts’ dominance with the bat during the last session of Day 3 and the final session of Day 4 made sure the result titled and rested in their favour.

The architect-in-chief for the Proteas was their opening batter cum skipper Dean Elgar, who played a stellar knock of 96* (188), while taking numerous blows on his body to guide his team home with a winning boundary.

After the end of Day 3, the hosts needed another 122 runs with 8 wickets in the bank against a strong Indian bowling line-up, and on a pitch that had quite some invariable bounce coupled with enough seam movement off the deck.

Dean Elgar’s father recounts his son’s remarks on the night of Day 3

With 240 required for victory, Dean Elgar played the final session of Day 3 with absolute grit and determination, while taking some handy blows from India’s pace trio of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, and Shardul Thakur.

While Bumrah hit him on his helmet’s grill in the 31st Over, Thakur smashed his gloves to a delivery which rose off a good length during the 37th Over. In the very next Over, Mohammed Shami smacked him right on his shoulder to hand him another body blow.

The Southpaw took it all, to hand his team an advantage going into the 4th Day’s play.

Dean Elgar’s father Richard Elgar recounted his son’s words on the night of Day 3, which he shared with The Indian Express.

“When we spoke briefly on Wednesday night, Dean told me, ‘Dad! I will be there till the end of the game tomorrow. If they want to get me out, they would have to break something in my body to drag me out of there. They are not going to get me by hitting me on the body. No way in hell.’ When I heard him say that, I knew he was charged up and felt he would do it”, remarked Richard Elgar.

“In the morning, when the target dipped under 100, I said to my wife, ‘you know what, they are not going to get him out today.’ I could see that he was in the zone – so focused, so intense in his bubble, that he didn’t even know what was going on around him. I could see it. She said ‘but 100 runs are there’, and I went, ‘doesn’t matter. Dean and others are going to do it'”, Richard further added.

It took Dean Elgar’s men mere 27.4 Overs to notch-up their first win in six Tests against India. Their chase of 240 was also the 3rd highest successful 4th innings chase by any team against India in Test match history.