Team India head coach Rahul Dravid is optimistic about their chances in the Test series against South Africa, which kicks off on Tuesday, December 26 at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. He expressed that the South African conditions are tough, but it is not impossible to play there.
Team India has played 23 Test matches in South Africa. Out of those, they have only won 4 Test matches, while South Africa has won 12. The visitors are yet to win a Test series in South Africa. Rahul Dravid spoke about the conditions in the pre-match press conference. He said that it’s difficult, but not impossible to bat in these conditions.
“Statistically it has been one of the toughest countries but we’ve also put in some good batting performances. It’s not that it’s been impossible to play here, or difficult to play here. One of the things is that the bounce tends to be more variable than other places. They might not have as much swing as in England, some of the wickets may not have the pace as you have in Australia but it can all be uneven as the game goes on,” Dravid said.
We have the experience to do well: Rahul Dravid
Team India head coach Rahul Dravid expressed that they have the experience to tackle the tough South African conditions. Virat Kohli averages 51.35 scoring 719 runs, slamming two centuries and three fifties. However, skipper Rohit Sharma’s record in South Africa is not very encouraging. He has scored just 123 runs at an average of 15.37 in four matches.
“It has proved to be a challenge for the Indian batters over the years but we’ve also had some good knocks as well. If we play well, we have the experience to do well,” said Rahul Dravid.
India’s squad for the Test series against South Africa: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk)
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