IND vs SA: "If You Don't Start Well..." - Rahul Dravid On Challenges In SA Tests
Updated - 24 Dec 2023, 10:15 PM
Team India head coach Rahul Dravid believes that the Indian team have the best chance to defeat South Africa in South Africa when they take on the Proteas in the first Test match of the series from December 26.
While speaking in the pre-match press conference, Rahul Dravid opened up that the Indian team will aim to minimize the damage in case the team faces a bad session.
Rahul Dravid opens up on challenges in the upcoming Test series against South Africa
Rahul Dravid also said that they will have very little time to bounce back if they don’t start well and that is why they need to ensure they perform well from the very beginning.
Rahul Dravid said, “We’ve been coming here since 1992 onwards. We have played good cricket in South Africa, we’ve won a few Test matches and have had some good draws as well. There have been good performances from our boys in the last 30 years. But we’ve not been able to win a Test series. There have been a few Tests where we had the opportunity but couldn’t capitalise on it.”
“It’s a short series this time, there will be little time to bounce back, so if you don’t start well, there could be no margin for making a comeback. The main challenge here is the fact that the pitches have a lot of bounce and seam movement. It can be tough for batting,” Rahul Dravid added. “The tracks are result-oriented. It can happen that if a bad session happens, you can be far behind in the game. So the key is to minimise damage in case of a bad session, like you shouldn’t lose 6-7 wickets in a session. In batting those extra 50-60 runs have to be made because 20 wickets will fall for sure. So, the team that bats better will win.”
India are ranked number one in Test team rankings whereas they are also on the number one spot in the WTC 2023-25 points table. India qualified for the final of the World Test Championship twice and will once again want to add necessary points to the table after winning the series.
On the other hand, South Africa defeated Bangladesh at home and the Temba Bavuma-led side also have the likes of Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, and Kagiso Rabada in their lineup who can help the team take up the Indian challenge.
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