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Elgar's 'feisty' niggle with Indian skipper Kohli

Centurion - In general, the war of words both on and off the field has been mild in this Test series between South Africa and India. 

One Protea, though, has been on both ends of a few colourful one-liners ... in Cape Town and now at Centurion, and that man is Dean Elgar.

At Newlands, Rohit Sharma caught Hashim Amla in controversial fashion, with replays not being able to conclusively reveal whether the catch was taken cleanly or if it had bounced first. 

But, with the original decision 'out', Amla was on his way.

Elgar, apparently, then had a few words for Sharma later in the Test for claiming the catch, and that naturally riled Kohli. 

During the second Test, where Elgar has posted scores of 31 and 61 to help South Africa close in on a series-clinching victory, the stump microphone has picked up Kohli coming particularly hard at Elgar. 

The gritty left-hander thinks his sledging rivalry with Kohli and the Indians started in 2015 when the Proteas were in India, but it is something that he embraces. 

"Both teams want to win and that's what makes it brilliant," Elgar said.

"We’re all so competitive on the field and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

"He (Kohli) is a very competitive, feisty guy and I think it comes out in his cricket. He wants the best for his team as anyone else does."

Elgar would not be drawn into expanding on what had happened in Cape Town between him, Sharma and Kohli.

"I’m not going to delve into what happened in Cape Town, but it’s something that really gets me going if someone is in my ear and tries to put me down," he said.

"It’s a competition between players who are feisty and want to win, and that’s pretty much the bottom line."

When play resumes on day five, South Africa will need seven more wickets for victory while India require another 252 runs to keep the series alive.

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