EXCLUSIVE | From pain to preparation: Dean Elgar’s blueprint for Proteas’ success in India

Former Proteas Test captain and opening batter Dean Elgar has emphasised the importance of meticulous preparation ahead of what is often a gruelling Test series in India.

For the Proteas, touring India can be a brutal experience. Many players have arrived on Indian shores brimming with hope for a long Test career, only to have their ambitions crushed by India’s ruthlessness at home — returning with their tails between their legs.

In some cases, those players have struggled to see a future for themselves in Test cricket afterwards. Simon Harmer is one such example. After the 2015 tour, during which South Africa were whitewashed, Harmer was dropped from the squad.

Senuran Muthusamy knows that experience all too well, having been omitted from the Test side after his maiden tour to India six years ago. The list goes on.

For those mentally strong enough to persist, and fortunate enough to be given a second chance, a return to India offers the ultimate test — and, perhaps, redemption.

Elgar emphasised the importance of learning from past mistakes and preparation heading into Indian conditions.

“I would have practised a lot of spinning, worked a little bit harder on my technique, knowing that you're going to face the ball that's spinning and you've got to face the ball that's reverse swinging. So you've got to prepare accordingly,” he said.

“I'd like to think the experience I gained from previous series over there and in Sri Lanka and in Bangladesh helped me and assisted me, and guided me into having a pretty decent series in 2019. But, again, you've still got to go out there and do the work.

"You've got to prepare extremely well in India. I'd like to think that the guys now, they've been around the Indian circuit with a few IPL guys around now, and I think that they'll be preparing accordingly.”

While seven of the 15 Proteas players on tour head into familiar conditions in India, eight are going into uncharted territory.

Yes, they have had a taste of the IPL and have played Test cricket in other subcontinent countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan, but India will be a different ball game.

On Tuesday, it was announced that the first Test at Eden Gardens is sold out, a feat that eight players would not have tasted in their careers thus far.

Having walked a similar path, Elgar advised not to play the occasion or the player but to focus on the competition between bat and ball.

“In 2015, I was only in my third or fourth season of Test cricket. So I was still very wet behind the ears. (Knowing what I know now), I would have maybe focused a lot more on myself instead of the actual occasion of playing against India in India,” said Elgar.

“I think sometimes the occasion can overshadow your thoughts and your ways of going about your processes. So I think I would have maybe focused a little bit more on my side of things instead of the whole occasion.

“(New) guys like Brevis and Tristan, they're going to be under the pump regardless. They had a pretty mediocre series in Pakistan. So hopefully those experiences and the hurt from that series and the learnings out of that will lead them into having a good series now against India.

"But, I’ll just say focus on the now. Don't look too far ahead. So, stay in the present, stay in the now. Play the ball, not the player.”

The first Test is set to get underway on Friday at 6am SA time.