Proteas stalwart Dean Elgar to retire from international cricket: 'All good things come to an end'

Proteas Test batting ace Dean Elgar will retire from international cricket after the upcoming two-Test series against India.

READ | Aiden Markram dissects Proteas' ODI series loss to India: 'A bit 'pap' after the World Cup'

The first Test is at Elgar's home ground - SuperSport Park in Centurion - from 26-30 December, while the second Test is at Newlands in Cape Town from 3-7 January.

Elgar, 36, represented South Africa in 84 Tests and eight ODIs during a 12-year international career.

Since making his Test debut against Australia in 2012, he has gone on to score over 5 000 runs at an average of 37.28, including 13 centuries and a career-best 199 against Bangladesh in 2017.   

He was also the Proteas' Test captain from May 2021 until January 2023, where he led the side to third place in the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship. The highlight during that period was a 2-1 home series win over India in January 2022.  

"Playing the game of cricket has always been a dream of mine but having the opportunity to represent your country is the ultimate! Having had the privilege to do it for 12 years internationally is simply beyond my wildest dreams. It has been an incredible journey that I have been fortunate enough to have," Elgar said in a statement released by Cricket SA on Friday.

"As they say, 'all good things come to an end', and the Indian home series will be my last, as I have made the decision to retire from our beautiful game. A game that has given me so much. The Cape Town Test will be my last. My favourite stadium in the world. A place I scored my first Test run against New Zealand and hopefully my last too.  

"Having the opportunity to represent my country and the learnings I've had along my journey is something