Elgar open to taking South Africa Test captaincy

Dean Elgar would be open to taking the South Africa Test captaincy and believes his experience should stand him in good stead for the role.

Over three months after Faf du Plessis stepped down as skipper, there has been no confirmation of a successor.

Quinton de Kock took over as white-ball captain, but South Africa director of cricket Graeme Smith stated that he would not lead his country in the longest format.

Aiden Markram has expressed his desire to take charge of the Test side and his opening partner Elgar suggested he would not turn down the chance to replace Du Plessis.

Elgar, who turns 33 next month, said in an interview released by Cricket South Africa on Monday: "I have done the captaincy thing in the past and I have done it from school level and provincial level‚ and now in a few professional franchise teams‚ and I have extremely enjoyed it.

"If I was asked to do the captaincy‚ definitely I will think hard and long about it because it would mean a lot to me."

The left-hander, who has twice stepped up to captain the Test side, thinks both his leadership experience and playing alongside influential characters can only be a positive.

He added: "I think my learning has definitely been quite vast in that regard because of the personnel that I have had before me in the change room.

"It has definitely been an eye-opener for me‚ a great learning curve‚ which I am extremely grateful for.

"As a person you never stop growing really. There is still a lot of growth coming and hopefully what I have learned I can pass it on to the younger guys."