South Africa opener Dean Elgar feels that the third and final Test against India should have been called off on the third day itself. On his way to corageous 86, Elgar took a nasty blow on his helmet in the ninth over of South Africa’s second innings which forced early stumps on day three but the match resumed next day after deliberations between the captains and match officials.
“I do think (it should have been called off earlier). On day three, the wicket didn’t play great. Batters got hit a hell of a lot of times. If there was a period to call it off, it was sooner,” Elgar said.
Referring to Philip Hughes’ death in November 2014 due to a head blow, Elgar said: “We had an incident of being hit in the head, where we could have had an incident of what happened in Australia. People want to watch Test cricket but we are also human beings. “We are not just going to take blows and accept putting our bodies on the line. The situation could have been addressed sooner,” he said.
“I had already been peppered three or four times before that. I know what was spoken throughout the day and I know they had a feeling of this wicket not being the greatest. It was extremely freak,” said Elgar, who had a concussion test on the third evening and on fourth morning.
“I’ve faced many fast bowlers before and I know the Wanderers wicket has that steep bounce, but I have never experienced it like that. Which obviously put a bit of doubt in the umpires’ minds” he concluded.
