A left-hand top-order batsman, Dean Elgar was the South African Country Districts Player of the Year in 2005 after a series of impressive performances for Free State and led South Africa in the 2006 Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka. Elgar showed a lot of promise in his formative years, but it took him nearly six years to impress the South Africa selectors. A string of solid scores for Knights in 2011 left his first-class batting average touching 50 and earned him the chance to play the visiting Sri Lankans in a warm-up game. Elgar made an impact by scoring 78, and was picked for the one-day leg of that series. The following year he was part of the one-day squad in England, although it did not appear a natural format for him. However, he remained close to the selectors' thoughts and when JP Duminy was injured during the Brisbane Test against Australia, Elgar was summoned to join the tour and later made his debut in Perth.
ESPNcricinfo staff November 2012