India skipper Rohit Sharma made his intention clear as a team leader to accomplish what previous Indian teams have been unable to in South Africa. India have not secured a Test series victory in South Africa since 1992. The first of the two Tests between India and South Africa is set to commence on December 26, Tuesday.
In the pre-match press conference on December 25, Rohit said that he wants to achieve what nobody has achieved in South Africa.
"Want to achieve what nobody has achieved in this part of the world," Rohit said during the pre-match press conference.
Under the captaincy of Rohit, Indian team is determined to end their series losing streak in Tests on South African soil. Despite touring South Africa since the 1992-93 season, the Indian team has yet to clinch a Test series win there.
Rohit, though he missed the chance to be among the few Indian captains to win the ODI World Cup, has the opportunity to forge his own legacy in South Africa.
However, Rohit refrained from discussing his future in cricket, simply stating that his focus is on enjoying the game.
"I want to play whatever cricket is there in front of me," Rohit added without revealing his plans.
The captain revealed that while KL Rahul is anticipated to take on the wicketkeeping duties in the first Test, the decision of how long he wishes to continue as a wicketkeeper-batter in Test cricket will ultimately be up to him.
"I am not sure how long KL Rahul would want to keep wickets but he is keen as of now," said Rohit.
Mohammed Shami, celebrated for his role in India's World Cup triumph, has been sidelined from the series due to an ankle injury. Rohit described the fast bowler's absence as a significant setback for the team.
"Shami will be a big miss for what he has done for us over the years. Someone will fill up (the) hole but it won't be easy," he said.
Here're some excerpts from Rohit's press conference ahead of first Test against South Africa:
Challenge of conditions
It is not too late to start your Test career in these conditions. Speaking to the guys who have not been here, they are excited. About the conditions, bowlers dominate a lot. The bounce, lateral movement for the seamers is there. The cracks open up a bit and you see invariable bounce. Throughout the five days, I cannot pin point where you can bat nicely. We have experienced this whenever we have come here. It becomes tougher and tougher. You want to play against quality bowling attacks. It will be nice to put our hand up and play well. We have discussed how we want to go about it. In terms of prep, we came a week back and we had decent time in preparing for the Tests. There is complete freedom to the individuals as to how they want to play.
Quality Seam bowling
Spinners and pacers will have a major role. Spinners have to contain and not go for a lot of runs if there is no assistance. Seamers have done their job whenever they have come to South Africa. We have two experienced spinners and they know what is required. There is not much talking we need to do about strategy. Ashwin, Jadeja know what is needed. They know their roles and they are quiet attacking. They will look for wickets and what is a Plan B for them.
Has it been easy to move on?
If you had a World Cup up until the final, the way we played, we expected to go an inch further. We could not do it. It was a very hard part for all of us. We worked hard for all the years for this. We did not do certain things well in the final which cost us. In most games, there was not much pin-pointing. It is hard. There is so much cricket happening. You have to find the strength to move on. It took time to come out of that. You have to look forward. We got a lot of encouragement from the outside world and that motivated me.
As a batter, I am batting well. Whatever is in front of me, I would like to play.
KL Rahul as specialist keeper?
Every cricketer has to go through some kind of transformation. There are hardly few players who have been stuck in one position. KL is one of them. The way he kept in the World Cup, it was pleasing. He wants to take the role up. We get to play a solid batter at No.5,6. He got a hundred last time while opening but this time he will be in the middle order. In the position he is batting, he does most of the things right. He gives us a solid balance in the team. I don't know how long he wants to keep
As a batter, encouraging conditions?
there is seam and bounce on these wickets. Batters like the ball coming onto the bat nicely. In other conditions, scoring can be difficult. Here, if you apply yourself and understand how the bowlers are operating, run-making can be done efficiently. We know when we are batting, you have to keep in mind that you are never set. The ball does something or the other. Here, overcast and clear skies do not play a role but ball does seam and bounce consistently. If you look to just survive here, it becomes difficult. You have to score confidently.
Next 6 months vital for the seniors?
We are coming to RSA for many years. If we win a series, it will be huge. I don't know whether a victory here will be a balm for the World Cup wound. World Cup is a World Cup. Comparisons are difficult. But, this is a very big series. If we achieve it, the guys will feel happy. We worked hard, something should come. People are desperate for it. Everyone want to get glory. I hope we do well in the series. We have all the tools. We have to play fearless cricket. Desperation to play cricket is there with everyone. They all are desperately wanting to do well. You will get an answer soon.
Choice of bowlers
Tough to pick between Mukesh and Prasidh. We need to figure out how the pitch will play and what the team needs. I asked how the wicket in Centurion played last time. There are some plans. Both are tall and hit the deck bowlers. They can extract some things from the wicket. We have seen how Mukesh has been impressive in the last 6-8 months. It depends on the wicket. We have Bumrah and Siraj. We know what to expect from them. Do we want a swing or seam bowler? There is a discussion going on. 75% decision is done. We wanted to see the wicket but could not do it due to the weather. 25% decision will be done in the meeting.
India's Test Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran.
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