3 big players whose last Test series was against India ft. Muttiah Muralitharan
A lot of cricket legends have played the last Test of their illustrious careers against India, be it Steve Waugh in 2005 at Sydney or Kumar Sangakkara in 2015. South Africa's Dean Elgar is set to be added to the list of players who played their final Test series against India.
The 36-year-old made his debut in red-ball cricket for the Proteas in 2012 and has been a regular feature at the top of the order for them. The left-handed opener has scored 5146 runs in 84 Test matches at an average of 37.28. He has registered 13 centuries in the format.
The former South African Test captain has a solid record against India, having scored 811 runs in 13 Tests at an average of 36.86. Moreover, he prefers batting in home conditions, as his overall average in the longest format of the game jumps to 46.16 in South Africa.
The Proteas will have a huge void to fill once this series is over, as Dean Elgar will be hard to replace. On that note, let's look at the three big players whose last Test series was against India:
#1 Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan was probably the best off-spinner in cricket history. The Sri Lankan legend is the leading wicket-taker in both Test cricket and ODI cricket. He has 1347 wickets in international cricket, 346 more than the second-highest wicket-taker.
Muralitharan played his final Test series against India in 2010. In fact, he entered his last Test match at Galle with 792 Test wickets under his belt. The wily spinner picked up exactly eight wickets in that match, taking his overall Test tally to 800.
#2 Jacques Kallis
One of the best all-rounders of all time, Jacques Kallis' records speak for themselves. He has scored over 25,000 runs and picked up over 500 wickets in international cricket, making him the only player to achieve this feat. The South African was good enough to feature in the team as a pure batter or as a pure bowler as well.
Kallis played his final Test match against India at Durban in 2013. He smashed 115 runs in the first innings, his 45th in Test cricket. Overall, the right-handed batter scored 13,289 runs in 166 Test matches while also registering 292 wickets.
#3 Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist is one of the greatest wicketkeeper batters to grace the gentleman's game. Primarily an opener in limited overs cricket, Gilchrist had to bat in the lower middle order in Test cricket, as Matthew Hayden was partnered by Justin Langer.
Gilchrist drew the curtains on his Test career against India at Adelaide in 2008. He didn't have a memorable outing with the bat, but he picked up six catches. The left-handed batter scored 5570 runs in Test cricket at an average of 47.60 and a staggering strike rate of 81.95.