Players must put country over cash — Elgar

● The Indian Premier League (IPL) is proving a bit of a pain for Proteas captain Dean Elgar.

Indian cricket’s annual cash grab jamboree is set to start on March 26 and it stands squarely in Elgar’s ambition of continuing the consistency and momentum from his team’s second Test victory over New Zealand. The Proteas play Bangladesh in a two-Test series from March 30 to April 3 in Durban and April 7 to 11 in Gqeberha.

Playing Bangladesh isn’t necessarily a blue chip fixture on the Proteas’ roster but the feisty Tigers can be a handful and Elgar wants all hands on deck for the series. Besides, the series carries the weight of ICC World Test Championship points.

“I know that is a bit of a tough one to put it in the player’s box but that’s where you see where the player’s loyalty lies now. They mustn’t forget that Test cricket or one-day cricket got them into the IPL. Not the other way round,” the skipper admitted.

Cash over country

Eleven South Africans have been contracted to IPL teams, with about half of them up for possible national team duty. Elgar said for his personal sanity he wished he knew which bowlers were going to be available for the Test series.

“I can make them aware of their position in our set-up,” he said of players like Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortjé.

“They all play a big role. It is up to me to go to each individual and tell them they mustn’t forget where they come from. The players need to give CSA an indication whether they are keen to go to the IPL,” explained Elgar.

That he needs his best strike force present cannot be understated. Bangladesh beat New Zealand in the first Test of their series in January. Moreover, SA will be playing the Tigers at venues where Sri Lanka inflicted a surprise series win on the hosts in 2019.

“The venues bring the opposition into the game. If I don’t have everyone, it is a bit difficult,” Elgar sighed.

Desperate for consistency

Having presided over consecutive series in which his team started poorly but regrouped splendidly, the captain is desperate for his players to be more consistent.

“For now we need to keep hammering at the basics. At the start of the series (against New Zealand) we were pretty poor at that, to be blunt. It’s almost like once we’ve failed we wake up and do things correctly.”

While Sarel Erwee and Kyle Verreynne joined the list of South African Test centurions in New Zealand the team still lacks conviction at the crease.

There will be no four-day competition for the Proteas batters to sharpen up but Elgar wants them to fill their boots, even if it is against the white ball.

The Proteas play the first of three ODIs against Bangladesh on March 18.