India vs South Africa: Captain Dean Elgar says focus on cricket, not on racism investigation

The Social Justice and Nation Building Commission (SJN), in its report, accused former South Africa captain and current CSA director Graeme Smith, current head coach Mark Boucher and former batter AB de Villiers of engaging in racially ‘prejudicial conduct’ against players.

South Africa cricket is dealing with yet another racism storm ahead of the three-Test series against India, which gets underway in Centurion on Boxing Day on Sunday (December 26). Captain Dean Elgar says his team remains focussed on putting up a professional effort against the ‘best team’ in the world.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has been going through administrative crisis over the last 24 months, so much so that Elgar can’t remember who is running the show at the moment. To add to that, the sport has also been rocked by racism allegations. Last week, the Social Justice and Nation Building Commission (SJN), in its report, accused former South Africa captain and current CSA director Graeme Smith, current head coach Mark Boucher and former batter AB de Villiers of engaging in racially ‘prejudicial conduct’ against players.

The SJN also accused CSA of discriminating against players on basis of their race. In a virtual media interaction arranged by CSA ahead of the Boxing Day Test against India, Elgar was expectedly asked about the latest controversy involving South African cricket but he said the team is not greatly affected by it.