Dean Elgar, the captain of South Africa, stated that his team’s pride and the opportunity to still qualify for the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) will be two of the primary motivating factors as they attempt to rebound from a crushing series loss against Australia in the third and final Test, which will begin on Wednesday in Sydney.
As a result of the home team taking the first two games of the series in Brisbane and Melbourne, the upcoming match at the SCG is effectively meaningless.
The best that can be hoped for by the South African team at this point is a consolation victory; but, a win will also keep them in the running for a spot in the World Cup decider that will take place later this year.
Dean Elgar and his teammates are now in fourth place, behind the Australians, India, and Sri Lanka; but, if the home team wins in Sydney, they would automatically go to the championship match.
Ahead of the match, the captain of the Proteas informed the reporters that there was a lot on the line. “There’s much to play for,” he said.
“We are competing not just for our dignity, but also for the opportunity to go to the WTC final. This means that we have a lot to play for as well.
“That is a tremendous incentive for us, and for me, you play every Test match like it’s your last, and hopefully we can put on a better spectacle this time.” “That is a massive incentive for us, and for me, you play every Test match like it’s your last.”
We always want to play good Test cricket and be a thorn in the side of the opponent, and we’ll be hoping to do better than we did last time when we compete in this match.
Throughout the entirety of the series, South Africa’s batting performance has been underwhelming, particularly at the top order. Elgar is of the opinion that, with a few notable exceptions like Kyle Verreynne and Temba Bavuma, the batsmen need to perform significantly better in this match.
As a result of Theunis de Bruyn taking paternity leave, the starting lineup will require at least one adjustment in order to accommodate for his absence.
Dean Elgar noted that there is nowhere to hide in the game of Test cricket, and for the top five batsmen, there is a clear need to find a means to cope with and nullify the demands of batting discipline in the game of Test cricket.
“I believe Kyle has done an outstanding job for us at the number six position, and I don’t believe that switching him around will improve either of us or him in any way. I also don’t believe that doing so is fair.
Due to the nature of our squad, I believe that our only batting alternatives are with those two (Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen).
“Rassie has quite a bit of experience at the Test level, and he can add a lot to the job. On the other hand, you look at a player like Heinrich, who is tremendously talented, and maybe he’s deserving of a shot now, an extended chance as well. “Those are the kinds of decisions we’ll be making this afternoon,” he said.
The captain was also questioned on whether or not he had altered his viewpoint regarding the use of an additional batter rather than a frontline bowler.
I’m still leaning toward a score of 6-5, but I’m keeping an open mind about everything else. It would be a major decision for us to play seven batsmen, and it would be a massive ask of our bowling unit to obviously fill those four slots.
“The strain that has been put on our fast bowlers as of late has been very intense, particularly in the most recent test when they really pushed quite a few figures in reference to the overs that they bowled,”
It is asking quite a lot of them to go into a test match with only four bowlers and possibly only three seamers, but it is reasonable to believe that they will do so.
Dean Elgar came to the conclusion that “anyway, the possibilities are there, and we will make those selections by tonight.”
India
