SA v IND: DRS controversy gave us a window to chip away at target - Elgar

The controversy “played nicely into our hands,” says the South Africa captain after his team’s seven-wicket win at Cape Town.

Dean Elgar (right) with the series trophy and Keegan Peterson with the player of the match trophy.

The DRS conundrum and the blow-up by the Indian team on day three of the third Test helped South Africa, felt the Protea captain Dean Elgar.

Elgar was typically battling away when he was rapped below the knee roll by an R. Ashwin delivery of flight and drift from round the wicket.

After being given out, Elgar reviewed. And the ball-tracking showed the ball going over the stumps.

The Indians lost their cool - surprisingly, no charges have been pressed against the players for their bust-up- and the South Africans cashed in.

Keegan Peterson (KP). Excellent initials (@KP24). A great world player in the making. My childhood hero Gundappa Vishwanath comes to mind #SAvINDpic.twitter.com/6T9SuzN6St

— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) January 14, 2022

Elgar was dismissed nine overs later. But by that time, South Africa had whittled down the target by another 41 runs.

‘Loved it’

Elgar said, “I loved it. It was maybe a team under a bit of pressure, and things weren't going their way." he said.

The Protea captain added, "It was a bit of Test match cricket pressure which gave us a little bit of a window period to score freer and chip away at the target.”

Elgar said, "It played nicely into our hands that for a period of time, they forgot about the game, and they were channelling a bit more on the emotional side of what Test cricket has to offer. I am extremely happy it happened that way."

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The South African captain said he had one-on-one conversations with every member of his team during the series.

He said, "You've got to have mutual respect with every individual player, and that's a two-way street.”

Elgar revealed, “My skin is pretty thick when it comes to on-field matters and matters that value the team in a big way. You don't want to show your emotions on camera.”

The Protea captain was all praise for Keegan Petersen and Marco Jansen. “The knocks KP played for us were massive. He’s evolved as a player. And Jansen gave us a different angle, bounce. He’s a genuine talent.”