South Africa captain Dean Elgar tells Bangladesh to 'harden up' over sledging allegations

South African captain Dean Elgar has told Bangladesh that they need to “harden up” if they are going to prosper in Test cricket.

The Proteas ran out convincing 220-run victors in the Durban first Test after skittling out Bangladesh for just 53 on the fifth day at Kingsmead.

But the performance has been somewhat overshadowed since by accusations of “unbearable sledging” made by the tourists against South Africa players as well as criticism of the match umpiring.

Bangladesh cricket operations chief Jalal Yunus said on Tuesday that his board would make an official complaint to the International Cricket Council about what he described as biased umpiring and the sledging of the home team.

Speaking before the second Test, which starts at St George's Park on Friday, Elgar said South Africa played the game hard but stopped short of swearing or using foul language towards their opponents.

“I don't think they are justified whatsoever,” said Elgar. “We play the game hard [but] if anything we were just giving back what we were getting when we were batting.

“This is Test cricket. It's a man's environment when it comes to playing at this level and I intend still to play the game hard.

“We don't swear or use foul language towards the Bangladesh batsmen because we still respect them. I think they need to harden up and maybe play the game at a level they're not used to.

“We do everything with dignity and we don't throw our badge or our name away. I honestly didn't see any bad sledging out there, even from their side. I just think this is Test cricket and we need to dry our eyes sometimes.”

South Africa Dean Elgar, left, insists he heard no bad sledging in the first Test. Getty

The umpiring in Durban was in the spotlight with an