Playing in our yard provides us higher hand towards India: Dean Elgar

South Africa are “wary” of India’s abroad success however residence situations present the hosts the sting going into the three-Test collection starting on Sunday, mentioned Proteas skipper Dean Elgar.
India had claimed a 2-1 win on Australian soil earlier this 12 months to qualify for the World Test Championships remaining, which they misplaced to New Zealand.
Virat Kohli’s males additionally grabbed a 2-1 lead to England earlier than the fifth Test of the season was postponed to 2022 because of COVID-19.
“I think it’s pretty even-stevens. Us playing at home, obviously, gives us a little bit of an upper hand,” Elgar mentioned forward of the Boxing Day Test in Centurion.
“They are ranked No. 1 on this planet; we are able to’t not have a look at that. That’s one thing they’ve been for fairly a while, in my view – simply my being a cricket watcher and a cricket fan.
“You can’t not give them the credit for what they have done over the last while. So, I am not going to sit here and say they are not the best side in the world because there’s a ranking system for a reason. But the mere fact that we’re playing in our backyard still gives us the upper hand going into the series.”
A serious portion of India’s abroad success may very well be attributed to their quick bowling unit and Elgar mentioned the visiting pacers will exploit the South African situations which is understood to supply tempo and bounce.
“Their strength at the moment lies in their bowling. We are extremely aware of that as well. They’ve had a lot of success as a bowling unit. They’ve got a lot of older spearhead bowlers that lead the attack and have got a good back-up set of bowlers as well,” Elgar mentioned.
“And being in South Africa, I’m pretty sure their bowling attack will exploit the conditions reasonably well. Just knowing that we have our seamers and we’ve got a little bit of pace and bounce and the wickets may be do a little bit more in South Africa than it does anywhere else around the world.”
India have by no means gained a Test collection on South African soil and Kohli’s males will go all out to be the primary workforce to attain the feat.
“It (India having success in Australia and England) is something we’re obviously wary of. They’ve improved a lot with regards to their travelling record,” Elgar mentioned.

“I know Virat Kohli has emphasised on that kind of point – that they wanted to improve their record on the road. (We are) Extremely mindful of that; they have set themselves that standard. And I’m sure they’re going to try and fulfil it within this series.”
The 34-year-old Elgar mentioned his workforce will do all the pieces potential to cease a marauding India when the primary Test begins right here on Sunday.
“And as much as I have the power of being the leader of this team, I’m going to try and prevent them from fulfilling that role or that dream of theirs,” mentioned the left-handed batter.
“That makes an thrilling and difficult collection for each groups. We know they’re going to return out firing; we’re extraordinarily conscious of that as effectively.
“I’m pretty sure they know we’re also going to come out firing. Either way it’s going to be an extremely exciting Test series.”