Ahead of the Australia tour 2022, South Africa captain Dean Elgar on Friday said the history here is not in our favour when it comes to playing at the Gabba.
Dean Elgar on AUS vs SA 1st Test 2022
During the South Africa tour of Australia 2022, both teams are scheduled to play 3 Tests and 3 ODIs between December 17 – January 17. Matches will be played across 5 different venues namely The Gabba, MCG, Sydney, Oval and Perth.
Australia will host the first Test match of the series in their “fortress” The Gabba. The host has an impressive record at the Gabba losing just once since 1988, against India in 2021.
But South Africa have rarely played at the fortress ground and it holds few fears for Elgar’s men.
“We don’t have any dirty laundry when it comes to playing at the Gabba because we haven’t played here yet,” he said. “The history here is not in our favour, and that’s OK. The fact we haven’t had any failures here might work in our favour.
“We’ve been here for two weeks and have been salivating for this moment. We’re looking forward to getting going.”
The traces of the “Sandpaper-gate” issue will hang over the Test, with two of the main culprits, Steve Smith and David Warner, both playing for Australia. Elgar said his team hadn’t spoken about the incident and insisted there were no grudges.
“There will be moments no doubt when there will be a few feisty encounters, hopefully it doesn’t reach the stage we experienced in 2018,” he said.
“There’s no grudges, but we want to win, they want to win, there will always be a moment when ego and heat of the moment gets to the guys. But I think it will be better controlled.”
It is worth mentioning that South Africa has one of the most destructive pace attacks in world cricket, spearheaded by Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, and Elgar admitted bowling “is our strength”, with their batsmen struggling recently. But he suggested he could make Australia field first if he won the toss.
“Generally I think in Australia you want to bat first as runs on the board is massive. But we won’t make a decision just yet,” he said, adding that they had settled on a starting side but would only reveal it on Saturday.
“All the batters have to stand up. It’s been a bit of a talking point that’s been surrounding our batting unit of late, I’ve never shied away from that.
“It’s time for the guys to rise up, it’s time for me personally to put my hand up and make a massive play for us,” he added.
“But in saying that, we have a really talented group, they’re just a bit inexperienced when it comes to Test cricket. But that’s OK, they don’t have a lot of baggage.”
The first Test match of the series will be played on December 17 – 21 in The Gabba, Brisbane. The match will kick start on 5:50 AM IST / 12:20 AM GMT / 10:20 AM LOCAL.
