"The knocks I take make me extra motivated to perform" - Proteas captain Dean Elgar reflects on the win against India

Dean Elgar led his side to a memorable victory in the second Test match against India.

South Africa captain Dean Elgar led his side from the front to seal a memorable and historic win at the Wanderers Stadium against India. The 34-year-old's gritty unbeaten 96 helped the hosts level the three-match series 1-1, forcing a decider in the third Test at Cape Town.

The hosts chased down a target of 240 runs in the final innings to register their highest fourth-innings successful chase. It was also South Africa's first win against India in Johannesburg.

On a tricky surface and a rain-curtailed fourth day, Dean Elgar led South Africa over the line alongside Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma.

Elgar also won the man of the match award for his match-winning knock. The South Africa captain was quite delighted with his side's performance in the second Test match.

During the post-match interview, the Proteas skipper opined that his side did the basics right in this match. Admitting that it was something his side missed in the first game, Elgar was also pleased with his players executing their roles perfectly.

Here's what Elgar had to say:

"The basics of batting bowling and batting don't go away, we missed that in the first game. Saying that, it wasn't easy. Tough conditions we had to face as a batting unit. As a bowling unit, the Indians were on top at times. Massive respect to our bowling unit, they showed a lot of character."

Elgar took some blows on his way to the unbeaten 96. The Indian bowlers peppered him with some short stuff but every time Elgar got knocked down, he sprung right back up to frustrate the Indians.

"Always a privilege to represent your country. I would like to think the knocks I take make me extra motivated to perform. Some would call it stupid and some would call it brave. The bigger picture is for us to win. We struggled to get a stable batting line-up and we had to be very patient. We've entrusted those positions to guys we feel can perform those roles and it's great to see them pull it off," added Elgar.

🚨 RESULT | #Proteas WIN BY 7 WICKETS

🇿🇦 Captain Dean Elgar's unbeaten 96 was the mainstay of the #Proteas chase as he showed plenty of fight and grit to get his side over the line and level the #BetwayTestSeries

#SAvIND #FreedomTestSeries #BePartOfIt https://t.co/uez5t7RRqZ

With KG, there was something that happened behind the scenes - Elgar on Kagiso Rabada's performance

Kagiso Rabada played a key role in South Africa's victory. Just when India were starting to threaten with a 111-run stand between Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, Rabada got the breakthrough for the hosts.

In his fiery spell, Rabada dismissed the two Indian stalwart batters in quick succession. He then accounted for the massively important wicket of Rishabh Pant as well.

In his post-match interview, the South African captain hinted that something had happened "behind the scenes" with regards to Rabada. While the skipper didn't dwell on the details, he was quick to appreciate his fast bowler's efforts.

Elgar stated that it was "awesome" to see Rabada in the zone and fire on all cylinders. The Proteas skipper said:

"With KG (Rabada) there was something that happened behind the scenes but we're not going to get into that. Sometimes KG needs a rocket. You could then almost sense the intensity and focus, he was in the zone. The moment he has that attitude he wants to bowl and wants to contribute, you have to use it as a captain. It was awesome to see him fire. Team effort to get 20 wickets."

Leading up to the final Test, Elgar wasn't in the mood to give up too much information away. The skipper concluded that there couldn't have been a better script with the series going down to the wire.

"I played a domestic game in Cape Town, not going to give away an info. 1-1, South Africa vs India, I don't think you could have written a better script," Elgar concluded.

South Africa win the second Test by 7 wickets.

The series is now leveled at 1-1.

#TeamIndia will bounce back in the third Test. 👍 👍 #SAvIND

Scorecard ▶️ bit.ly/SAvIND-2ndTest https://t.co/s5z3Z01xTx