Elgar’s chances of playing in the series are not high

South Africa all-rounder Dean Elgar, who has represented the Proteas in five ODIs, has been named as Jean Paul (JP) Duminy’s replacement for the remainder of the Test series against Australia.

Elgar was called up after Duminy ruptured his Achilles tendon while doing some post-match warmdown exercises and now faces up to six months out of action.

Despite being more of a top order batsman compared to a lower middle order one like Duminy, Elgar will be able to provide South Africa with some part-time left-arm spin bowling, just like Duminy.

However, Elgar’s chances of playing during the series remains slim since Faf du Plessis is almost certain to play in the last two Test matches remaining.

Elgar, a former under-19 captain, caught the national selectors attention shortly after making his first-class debut.

In the 2006-2007 first-class season, Elgar scored 881 runs at an outstanding average of 55.06.

However, it wasn’t until the 2009-2010 season that the national selectors considered including Elgar in their future plans after he scored 1193 runs at an average of 62.78 and the all-rounder further backed up that performance by scoring 816 runs at an average of 54.49 in the 2010-2011 season.

Elgar was included in South Africa’s ODI team for the first time during their tour of Sri Lanka in December last year, but failed to play a single match after tearing his knee ligaments on the eve of the limited overs series.

The all-rounder will now have his visa arrangements sorted before joining his team-mates in Australia.

However, there are some other candidates like Justin Ontong, Ashwell Prince and Colin Ingram, who have been overlooked as well.

Ontong has been in sublime form throughout the first-class season this year, scoring 658 runs, which included two centuries and four half-centuries, at an average of 59.81 in nine matches.

Prince was a regular face in the South African squad until being dropped after the Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka in Durban last December.

Meanwhile, Ingram has not been picked since South Africa’s ODI series against Sri Lanka in January, but he has given himself some hope for the future after scoring 270 runs in three first-class matches at an average of 54.