29 January,2018 03:55 PM IST | Johannesburg | Anand Vasu
Dean Elgar
Dean Elgar, the South African batsman who stood tall even as others around him were snaffled by India's bowlers in the third Test at the Wanderers, said the ball that hit him on the face was a "freak occurrence." Elgar made an unbeaten 86, giving South Africa a chance of attacking India's target of 241. But, despite taking numerous blows on the body and refusing to give his wicket away, Elgar ended up on the losing side. The opener has been praised for his resilience and grit but India's players constantly sledged him, going after his ugly style of play.
"I can't go out there and play an AB de Villiers knock. If you want that you have to look elsewhere because I am not going to be able to do that, said Elgar. "I am not going to be able to play a Hashim Amla knock because those are special cricketers. But what I have is potentially something that they don't have. I think this is a great make up for our Test side." Elgar conceded that he would've loved to be more fluent. "We have guys who can grind it out and we have guys who have the ability to play special knocks. It will be awesome if I was a little bit talentedâ" said Elgar, who was proud of the fact that he battled on despite getting hit.
"It's nice bruises to be honest. I have something to show for it and it is personal reward," said Elgar. "It was a tough battle and something that I enjoy as a player." Elgar became the only South African to have carried the bat twice in completed innings. "It is always special when you have contributed with the bat or ball for your countryâ" Elgar said.
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"My way is only limited with the bat. On Friday night it was unfortunate that someone had to be hit on the face for action to be taken. But it was out of our hands and we had no say in regards to that matter." Elgar also looked at his knock through the prism of the match result: "We came up just short of winning the match and it gives me pleasure to know that we tried our best.... but sometimes your best is just not good enoughâ but it was a good outing. This knock is right up there with the tougher knocks I have played but it is not satisfactory."
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