‘He is the reason why my Test career was cut short’ – Dean Elgar’s shocking statement on abrupt retirement

Former South Africa skipper Dean Elgar, in a recent revelation, has opened up on the toxic culture involving politics and poor administration in Cricket South Africa (CSA) that led to his early Test retirement. 

The 36-year-old got candid in an elaborate interview with the Rapport newspaper. 

He expressed that the departure of Graeme Smith from his role as director of cricket in March 2022 created significant challenges for him, coach Mark Boucher and the team management. Elgar highlighted the struggle of balancing the team’s priorities with those of CSA’s administration.

Despite this, he recounted feeling surprised when he was called to a meeting with director of cricket Enoch Nkwe and newly appointed coach Shukri Conrad in February the previous year. In that meeting, he was also informed that he was getting replaced as captain by Temba Bavuma.

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Dean Elgar reveals the person who cut short his career

Elgar said, “It felt as though they did not recognise all my hard work over the previous year-and-a-half, that they didn’t realise how much we had improved as a team. From being sixth or seventh in the world we became a team with the potential to play in the World Test championship final.”

Elgar captained South Africa in 18 out of his 86 Test matches. During his tenure, the team climbed the Test rankings, securing series victories against West Indies, India, and Bangladesh. However, they faced setbacks with consecutive losses in away series against England and Australia during Elgar’s final two series as captain.

In January 2023, Conrad assumed the role of head coach for the Test team and one of his initial decisions was to appoint Bavuma as skipper.

Elgar disclosed that Conrad’s primary rationale for the change was because he felt “better aligned” with Bavuma.

“Shukri Conrad is the reason why my Test career was cut short,” concluded Elgar.

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