South Africa captain Dean Elgar has hit back at Bangladesh 's complaints of excessive sledging, telling them to "harden up and play the game at a level that maybe they're not used to".
Elgar's comments come after Bangladesh said they would be lodging an official complaint about South Africa's "deplorable" sledging during the first Test in Durban, which the hosts won by 220 runs. Bangladesh's cricket operations chief Jalal Yunus told ESPNcricinfo that South Africa particularly targeted Mahmudul Hasan Joy, with the 21-year-old playing just his third Test match.
"They surrounded Joy when he went out to bat," Junus 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."
However, Elgar has fired back at Bangladesh's claims ahead of the second Test in Gqeberha, insisting his side were "just giving them back what we were receiving". When asked about their complaints, Elgar told reporters: "I don't think they're justified, whatsoever.
"We play the game hard, and if anything we were just giving back what we were getting when we were batting. It is Test cricket. It's a man's environment when it comes to playing at this level, and I intend to play the game hard.
"By no means did we swear or use foul language towards the Bangladeshi cricketers, because we respect them. We were just giving them back what we were receiving.
"I think they need to harden up and play the game at a level that maybe they're not used to. We received it first, and we responded in that way.
"We wouldn't go out there and intentionally try and intimidate a young player. We'll play the game at a hard level, but we're not there to use language to try to intimidate guys. We'd rather try and intimidate by our skill.
"Also, this is Test cricket. When I started playing it, the environments were a lot harsher. You were told everything that you didn't want to know about yourself. We're representing our country and we want to win, and if you're playing a little bit of a mind game on the opposition, why not?"
