By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@GalloImages.
Proteas captain Dean Elgar says it’s difficult for professional cricketers to spend so much time away from home while staying in bio-secure environments.
Elgar was speaking in the wake of Quinton de Kock’s shock retirement from Test cricket. The 29-year-old, who will continue to play white-ball cricket for the Proteas, said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
“People think it’s glamorous, and you live in massive houses, drive nice cars and get free clothing,” said Elgar of being a professional cricketer.
“That is part of it, but the flip side is that it’s extremely demanding on personal lives. If you’re in a relationship, it becomes extremely difficult because you’re spending a lot of time away from home.
“As it is now, if you play white-ball cricket, you’re away from home for two months playing in the IPL and that’s all you do.
“If you play Tests, that’s potentially six to eight months away from home in a year. So, I can understand the toll of it on yourself, especially now that we live in these bubbles.
“The people that construct our bubbles are trying their utmost to make it a lot more player-friendly now by giving us luxuries like living in a hotel with a golf course – a lot of guys like to play golf. That’s just one example of guys having a way out to clear their minds.
“Of late, it’s been a struggle for quite a lot of guys because of what’s happened around the world with Covid and putting guys into the bubble is not easy.
“We still love what we do, but it’s still tough on a few guys. Each personality deals with it in different ways, and we’ve got to respect those kinds of decisions,” added Elgar, referring to De Kock’s Test retirement.
De Kock, was scheduled to miss the last two test of the three-match series anyway because of the imminent birth of his first child.
Meanwhile India stand-in captain KL Rahul won the toss and elected to bat on the opening day of the second test against South Africa at the Wanderers on Monday, looking to take advantage of a wicket expected to initially favour the batsmen.
Rahul captains the side in place of Virat Kohli, who has suffered an upper back spasm and sits out in a surprise setback for the tourists.
“It’s a dream to captain your country, so I’m looking forward to the challenge,” said Rahul, who was one of the top performers in India’s 113-run victory in last week’s first test at Pretoria.
“We’ve had a few good wins here at the Wanderers and will want to continue that,” he added. India are unbeaten in five previous tests at the Wanderers, with two victories and three draws.
Kohli is replaced by the 28-year-old Hanuma Vihari in India’s only change. Vihari is expected to bat at No. 5 in his 13th test but first since playing against Australia in Sydney one year ago.
Teams:
South Africa: Dean Elgar (capt.), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreyne, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi.
India: KL Rahul (capt.), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.