Dean Elgar denies that “unbearable” sledging took place in the 1st Test against Bangladesh and has asked the opponents to “harden up”.

The Proteas were accused by the Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque of “unbearable” sledging after their 220-run defeat in the first Test in Durban.

“They surrounded [Mahmudul Hasan] Joy when he went out to bat,” he said. “They were saying something. He couldn’t say anything back since he is a junior player. It was deplorable. Instead of controlling the situation, the umpires warned our players whenever we made complaints against the sledging.

“Sledging definitely took place from both sides, but when they started it and took it overboard, we complained to the umpires. It wasn’t acceptable. We properly condemn it. We have to accept the umpires’ decisions, but the ICC must reinstate neutral umpires.”

Elgar responded to the claims in the press conference ahead of the 2nd Test in Gqeberha.

“I don’t think the complaints are justified, especially towards the South African side,” he said.

“Look, we play the game hard, if anything, we were just giving back what we were getting when we were batting. This is Test cricket it’s a man’s environment when it comes to playing at this level and I intend to still play the game hard. 

“By no means did we swear or use foul language towards the Bangladeshi cricketers because we still respect them in that nature.

“But we were just giving back what we were receiving when we were playing. I just think they need to harden up and play the game at a level that they are maybe not used to. But this is not us retaliating, but just us playing at a nature of cricket that we received first, we just responded in that way.

“But we never used bad or foul language. One of the messages to the players is that we do everything with dignity and that we don’t throw our badge away or name away whatsoever. I honestly never saw any bad sledging even from their side. This is Test cricket and we need to dry our eyes sometimes.”