South Africa will be without Dean Elgar when they next play Test cricket after the India series. The same Elgar, who would look ungainly, often boring at the crease, but at the end of the day, would always be there, even if the rest of the team deserted him.

This is not a figure of speech. Barring Desmond Haynes, Elgar is the only one to have carried his bat in a Test innings on three separate occasions, and the only one to do it twice in the same calendar year.

But Elgar’s career is not only about three heroic performances. He is one of only eight South Africans with five thousand Test runs as well. Of course, one may point out his average of 37.28, which may seem insignificant when pitted against the numbers of some of his illustrious compatriots. But using that one parameter to evaluate Elgar is not sufficient to illustrate what makes him special.

Elgar averages 46.16 on home soil for his 3,278 Test runs. As opener, the numbers read 3,075 runs at 47.30. Of all South Africa openers with as few as 1,200 runs at home, no one averages more – and that list includes Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, and Graeme Smith.

The counterpoint is not difficult to gauge. These runs, after all, have come at home: should the familiarity of the conditions not make scoring runs easier?

A valid point, but then, South Africa is an atypical ‘home’ country. Remove Ireland, and the collective Test batting average in South Africa has been the lowest (28.93) among all nations. Change the cut-off to the start of 2015, and the 26.17 is still the lowest.

Change to post-COVID, and the rank does not change – though the average drops to 24.19. From nine Test matches here during this period, fast bowlers have taken 247 wickets at 23,90 apiece on South African soil – again, the lowest in the world.

Clearly the familiarity with the conditions do not help reduce their hostility significantly. The usual perceptions of home advantage do not apply to South Africa batters, especially since the pandemic.

Surprisingly, the post-COVID period was also when Elgar came to his peak, amassing 834 runs at 55.50 from nine Test matches in South Africa. Among batters with two games or more, only Temba Bavuma (705 at 54.23) comes in the vicinity. Next closest is Aiden Markram with 461 at 38.41 – the only other opening batter with more than 200 runs in South Africa in the same time period. Restrict it to openers, no one averages even forty in the country with any cut-off over this period.

To sum up, he has consistently scored runs when nearly every other opener has failed.

The Dean Elgar Bridge

Throughout history, teams have borne the aura of invincibility at home, but seldom away. South Africa achieved that, between the 2006 tour of Sri Lanka and the 2015/16 tour of India. Elgar debuted during this phase, in 2012/13, and got a pair from No.6 in each innings.

Some of his teammates from that match – Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander – played key roles during South Africa’s unbeaten run. They also left one by one over the next few years – Kallis in 2013, Smith in 2014, de Villiers and Morkel in 2018, Amla and Steyn in 2019, Philander in 2021, du Plessis and Quinton de Kock, who debuted after Elgar, in 2021.

True, Kagiso Rabada arrived and Bavuma stepped up, but Elgar was the only constant in the transition period as the South African Test side slumped to a low.

In the year before the global lockdown, South Africa lost 0-2 to Sri Lanka, their first defeat against an Asian side at home; were swept aside in India; and despite taking a lead, went down 1-3 to England, again at home.

Elgar had led South Africa on and off, but with de Kock stepping down, he took over the reins full-time. When India came over in 2021/22, the team was barely recognisable from the unit on Elgar’s debut Test match. Barring de Kock and Bavuma, no one had played Test cricket during South Africa’s unbeaten overseas run.

India had won a Test series in Australia earlier that year, and had been leading the series in England 2-1. Their fast bowlers had been key to their success. South Africa’s best chance lay in blunting them out. Elgar rose to the challenge, with 1 and 77, 28 and 96 not out, 3 and 30 in a low-scoring series dominated by pace.

Against Bangladesh, he made three consecutive fifties. In the Lord’s pace duel of 2022, Elgar played his part with a solid 47 at the top when England were shot out for 165 and 149. But more than anything, Elgar’s importance to South Africa is characterised by how they Africa have caved in when he has failed.

Consider Christchurch 2021/22, for example, where South Africa made 95 and 111. Or their 151 and 179 at Old Trafford 2022. Or the first-innings 118 at The Oval that followed. Or the totals of 152, 99, 189, and 204 in four consecutive innings in Australia. When Elgar failed, so has the entire batting line-up, almost like clockwork.

When the South African giants of 2000s left, the next batch stood up. When the 2010s batch left, Elgar took the responsibility upon himself, seeing the side through a low, and bringing them as close to back on track as possible as opening bat and captain.

The Elgar void, thus, will be an enormous one to fill.