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The South African side registered a dominating win over a top side like India, taking a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series. Stand-in skipper Dean Elgar’s 185 off 287 and Kagiso Rabada and Nandre Burger spelling magic with the ball, helped the Proteas to seal the first match by a margin of an inning and 32 runs.
However, during the opening Test, their skipper Temba Bavuma sustained a horrific hamstring issue as he went up chasing the ball. As he limped off with the hamstring injury, giving the captaincy reins to Dean Elgar, who is playing his final Test series. But an update from Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Thursday, 28 December confirmed that the 33-year-old will miss the final Test against India.
“Following continuous medical assessments, it was determined that there was too much risk of aggravating his left hamstring injury had he gone out to bat at this stage of the game,” CSA captioned the post. Although after the completing of the match, CA revealed that will miss the final match with Zubayr Hamza replacing him in the squad.
“Temba is not in a great physical state. We felt the potential risk … he could aggravate (the injury). He will have it assessed in two weeks,” South Africa Head Coach Shukri Conrad told reporters.
Dean Elgar to captain in his final match for South Africa
Dean Elgar, who won the Player of the Match award for his crucial 185-run knock will continue to lead the side in Temba Bavuma’s absence. It is to be noted that Elgar is no stranger to captaincy. He led the Proteas Men to a comeback 2-1 win against India during their tour of India in 2021-22.