“They mustn’t forget that Test and one-day cricket got them into the IPL, not the other way around.” – Dean Elgar
Telford Vice | Cape Town
DEAN Elgar has a message for his bowlers: Please don’t go. To the IPL from the start, that is. The tournament schedule crashes into South Africa’s home Test series against Bangladesh, and Elgar will be without most of his first-choice attack if they choose franchise over country. Or, rather, if they choose money over prestige. And choose they must: the decision is theirs.
The Bangladesh Tests are set to be played at St George’s Park and Kingsmead from March 30 to April 12. The IPL is set to run from March 26 to May 29. Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortjé all have IPL contracts — and are all prime candidates for the Test squad. Add travel time and three days of quarantine to the equation, and the South Africans could miss the first 18 days of the IPL. Add, too, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram to that list.
“Just this morning I got off a call with the respective personnel at CSA to try and give us a guideline as to whether the players will be available or not,” Elgar told an online press conference on Friday. “The outcome of that meeting is that the players need to give CSA an indication whether they’re keen to go to the IPL or if they’re keen to play for the Test side.
“It’s a tough one leaving that up to the players, but this is how we’ll see where their loyalty lies. They mustn’t forget that Test and one-day cricket got them into the IPL, not the other way around.
“That’s all I can give you now. I wish I had more, just for my own personal sanity. So I can prepare, knowing that most of my bowlers are potentially not going to be there if they choose to go the IPL route. Hopefully by next week that will be clearer for us.”
The fact that the Tests will be played on the same slow pitches where Sri Lanka became the first Asian team to win a series in the format in South Africa in February 2019 only complicated Elgar’s mission: “The venues are more suited for the opposition; I think that brings them into the game. I can’t take the field without my best side, in order to give ourselves the best chance. I need my best players.”
Even so, Elgar had empathy for those involved: “You don’t want players to miss out on a big occasion like the IPL, by no means. But I’d still like to think playing for your country is bigger than that.”
That depends how you measure size: in dollars or allegiance. The IPL pays some of South Africa’s players exponentially more than they make from the international game. For instance, Jansen will have earned around USD22,500 from the five Tests he has played so far. If he stays for the Bangladesh Tests, that’s another USD9,000. So, a total of USD31,500. His contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad is worth USD550,000. That’s more than 17 times what he has and will be paid by CSA this summer.
Elgar has proved himself a persuasive captain. His pep talk with Rabada during the Wanderers Test against India in January brought the spearhead back to his fiery best, and kept him there for the series in New Zealand that ended on Tuesday. But what could Elgar do to stop his players making what would be, for many, the obvious choice?
“I can just make them aware of their position within our set up,” Elgar said. “They all play a big role. It’s up to me to go up to each individual and point out to them that they mustn’t forget where they’ve come from as players and where we’ve come from as a group. The next few days might be busy and interesting for me.
“I owe it to our group to give them the best chance to make a decision. If it means I need to make them aware of their positions in the side, then I have to do that. Because for me it’s about the bigger picture. It’s about us playing as much Test cricket as possible. We’re already playing so little Test cricket. We can’t not have our best players around when the team is called upon to go out and perform.”
White-ball specialists Quinton de Kock and David Miller are also set to play in the IPL — which could take them out of the mix for the three ODIs South Africa will play against Bangladesh from March 18 to 23.
CSA’s hands-off approach on the IPL differs from their stance on the PSL: they refused to release contracted players for the latter, which was played in January and February, because it clashed with the national team’s fixtures. Another consideration will be CSA’s currently cosy relationship with the BCCI, not least because of the friendship between Graeme Smith and Sourav Ganguly.
Elgar’s problems are more immediate. Friday’s presser ended with him rubbing his eyes, which were no doubt exhausted in the wake of his long trip back from New Zealand, where his team fought back in epic fashion to square the series. For his next trick, he needs to plot and plan a way to keep his team intact. Good thing, perhaps, that he won’t be able to fall asleep.
First published by Cricbuzz.
Bulletproof Truth 
Very well written, Telford, I must be very old fashioned as I would certainly go the playing for SA route!
I think that some of the younger and the fringe players should be very careful!
Thanks Michael. Behold, the future.