SA vs IND | It played nicely into our hands: Dean Elgar on the DRS controversy

South Africa skipper Dean Elgar finally reacted to the DRS controversy that took place in the fourth innings of the third and final Test between the hosts and India at Newlands, Capetown. Speaking in the post-match press conference, Elgar said that all the noise around that decision actually helped him and his team in its chase of 212. 

"It was maybe a team under a bit of pressure and things weren't going their way, which they are quite used to of late [getting things to go their way]," he said. "It was a bit of Test match cricket pressure which gave us a little bit of a window period to score freer and chip away at the target,” he said about Indian players’ reaction post the decision in which Elgar was declared not out on review after the on-field umpire gave him out Leg-Before-Wicket. 

“It played nicely into our hands that for a period of time, they forgot about the game and they were channelling a bit more of the emotional side of what Test cricket has to offer. I am extremely happy it happened that way,” he added. 

Talking about how he operates with his own players, Elgar drew a stark difference from his counterpart, Virat Kohli, saying that he tries to shy away from the cameras.

“I'd like to think I've got a pretty good relationship with everyone - from the oldest player to the youngest player. I'd like to think I connect with them in a pretty good way; a special way. The guys know Dean is doing this for the right reasons.

My skin is pretty thick when it comes to on-field matters and matters that value the team in a big way. You can't control anything that's happening out there. You don't want to show your emotions on camera. From that point of view, it's something I have learnt a lot and I've had to learn it quite quickly. From a captaincy point of view, it's helped me be calmer and not panicking too soon,” he said. 

South Africa beat India 2-1 in a series that was built up as India’s to win against one of the weakest and most in-experienced Proteas Test sides ever.