SA v SL review: SA players'

It's crazy to think that this was our first test victory in TWO years, yes, you heard me correctly, two years. The last time we won a test series was against Pakistan in January 2019. Since then, we have lost to Sri Lanka at home, India away, and England at home. ALL The losses were ather tough to digest as Proteas fans, since we were spoilt with a very strong test side for a rather long period of time.

Even with this series victory, there are still a few red flags with our team and brand of cricket, however, i chose to focus more on the positives.

The openers: one thing we have struggled with in recent times, is a solid opening partnership putting up runs consistently. In this series, SA fans were pleased to see Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram setting a foundation and setting the tone of the innings.

Dean Elgar: Elgar. A fighter. One of the grittiest openers and players in test cricket at the moment. Dean finished as the highest scorer of the series and also took the man of the series award. As our most experienced campaigner in the test arena, Elgar once again proved his worth in the squad. As a man of vast experience having played in and scored in different countries and under different conditions, moving forward, Dean will be a vital part of a squad that is rather inexperienced.

Aiden Markram: Aiden is probably one of the most talented batters in the country, however, he is also the most frustrating. He has so much of potential, but seems to be lacking in mental strength. Perhaps, the pressure of being labeled our next captain by many a fans is impacting his performance on the field. I believe that Aiden will come good, but I also believe he needs to develop his mental strength and match awareness.

Rassie van der Dussen: Rassie knows what it means to occupy the crease, a mark of a fantastic test batsman. However, his inability to rotate the strike at certain times is rather concerning. I would suggest that he bats higher up the order. Position 3 is a rather crucial position in test cricket and needs to be occupied by a more experienced batsman at this stage.

Faf Du Plessis: Our leader. Our rock. Even though Faf is not our captain anymore, he remains a leader, and a very strong one at that. His experience is extremely valuable, both on and off field. On the field, he continues to lead by example with his batting and exemplary fielding. Off the field, his knowledge is indispensable to Quinny as our current captain, as well as to our youngsters who want to feed off his vast experience. One rather daunting realization from this series, is the fact that once Faf retires, there will be a massive void to fill and we need to start thinking about who will be able to fill the void once Faf is no longer around.

Quinton de Kock: It is crazy to think that when Quinny debuted, he was the baby in the team and now he is the MVP - captain, keeper, valuable batsman. He was far from his best with the bat in this series, but I wouldn't overanalyze it. After the English series in which he batted at 5 in the final test match, he had stated that he would like to bat at 5 as it would give him more opportunities to score bigger. Hence, I would keep him at 5 and allow him to settle into the position. As a keeper, I strongly believe that he is the best in the country and probably in the world, and he proved that once again during this series. As a captain, aside from a few questionable bowling changes, I believe he captained quite well.

Temba Bavuma: Temba is the one player that is ALWAYS under scrutiny no matter what he does. He is criticized for the fact that he has scored only one test century and averages 31. However, I believe in the context of runs and Temba is one that has scored most of his runs under immense pressure. In the first test, he shared a crucial partnership with Faf, once again, when the team was in a spot of bother, He had the perfect chance to score his second century, but it was not meant to be as he walked off after having not nicked the ball. I would persist with Temba, he is a fighter.

Wiaan Mulder: in my opinion, the greatest positive in the series, was the performance of Wiaan Mulder. What I saw was a young man who is entirely aware of his role in the team. Mulder seems to be the all-rounder we have desired for a long time now. With ball in hand, he provided crucial breakthroughs whenever we needed him to do so. He bowled consistent lines and lengths and was rewarded with wickets. On the batting side of things, he can only get better and better with time in the international arena, he has shown what he is capable of with the bat at domestic level. SA needs to invest in him long term, and we will reap the rewards of it.

Keshav Maharaj: unfortunately, Kesh was not needed much on the Centurion and Johannesburg pitches as they favour fast bowling. However, Quinny did not give Kesh a bowl in the second test which was rather strange. Even though his bowling was not utilized as much as we would've liked (considering we tour Pakistan later this month), Kesh showed the value he brings with the bat. He is able to score runs freely at a brisk rate when the team requires him to do so.

Anrich Nortje: South Africa's pace ace has been bowling at 145km/h +. In the absence of KG, Anrich came into this series with a very important role to play, and he certainly did not disappointment as he ended the series as the highest wicket-taker. He didn't always bowl with great control, conceding far too many runs and boundaries at times. However, he quickly learnt from his mistakes and can only get better - he will be lethal when he achieves the perfect balance between pace and control.

Lungi Ngidi: unfortunately for Lungi, injuries have been a concern since the beginning of his career, and this has resulted in a loss of pace. However, a loss of pace due to injury or possible injury concerns, has not come in the way of Lungi working extremely hard and giving his absolute all each time he puts on his Proteas kit. Opening the bowling, Lungi set the tone by bowling tight and consistent lines and lengths, always attacking the stumps. He often took the wickets of the top order batsmen who looked threatening.

Lutho Sipamla: on debut, there were obviously some nerves for young Lutho, this was visible in the first session of the boxing day test. It is rather depressing that even before Lutho bowled his first delivery, he was termed a "quota selection" not worthy of wearing whites for the Proteas by some so called "fans" on social media. After a poor first session, his strength of character immediately shone through brilliantly as he began bowling a beautiful line. Lutho was also responsible for taking the wickets of Sri Lankan tailenders', which is something we have struggled to do of late. He definitely desrves to wear the Protea on his chest, and those criticizing a youngster definitely need to re-evaluate.