Team India is in pursuit of historic quest as they take on South Africa in two Test matches slated to start from December 26. Rohit Sharma's brigade are eyeing their first-ever Test series win over Proteas on South African soil. In India's eight tours to South Africa since their initial visit in 1992, the home team has emerged victorious in seven, with the series in 2010/11 ending in a draw. Notably, six of these South African victories were by a narrow margin of just one win.
The visiting Indian team might sense a chance now as the current South African squad lacks the seasoned expertise and prowess with bat and ball of their predecessors, with their top order particularly vulnerable.
Meanwhile, right ahead of the Boxing Day Test, India's head coach Rahul Dravid emphasised the challenges of a brief two-match series, which offers limited scope for recovery from setbacks. The team is keen to return to their victorious form after the disappointment of losing the ODI World Cup final to Australia.
Notably, this series marks the return to international cricket for key players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah, following their World Cup final loss to Australia. During the pre-match press conference, Dravid highlighted the necessity for India to perform exceptionally well in these two Tests, given the series' short duration.
"We have been coming here since 1992, played some good cricket, won some Test matches and drawn some. But we are yet to win a Test series. We had our share of opportunities to do so but could not. This is a short series and we will have less amount of time to bounce back. We will try to play well in the series. We have done well in patches here (in SA). This will give us confidence that we can do well in South African conditions," said Dravid.
Dravid was also vocal when asked about the aggressive brand of Test cricket. He said,"We encourage the players to play in a way they are comfortable. You are judged by results. You have to keep the conditions and tactics in mind when playing in RSA. There is a balance in finding the cricket smarts. You have to express yourself."
Here are some excerpts from Dravid's press conference:
Seniors coming back? After World Cup, has it been easy to move on?
“It was a disappointment. But, you have to move on quickly. There are some important series. You don't have time to stay down all the time. You have to pick yourself up. The spirit in the camp is superb. It is a tough place to play in but exciting. There was World Cup disappointment but we have moved on from this. We did well in the T20Is and the ODI team did well despite most main players missing. The RSA team had a lot of their main batsmen.”
Best opportunity to win the series?
“There is no extra pressure on winning the series. We have had a good chance when coming here. We have not been able to cross the line but we have done well. We do have a good team and we can play very well. South Africa is a good team at home and they play well in these conditions. Their record is terrific. They rarely lose at home just like us.”
South Africa's strong points
“South Africa's bowling attack is very good in these conditions. They have good fast bowlers and a good spinner. They have depth in their batting. In these conditions, over the course of five days, teams do lose 20 wickets. There is something in the wicket. It is just about how well you can bat. We need to put runs on the board. If I go back to the last series, we had a good first innings. If we can put a total in excess of 300+ in the first innings, we will be good. In the third innings, we ended up short last time.”
Series win a redemption for WC loss?
“I don't think you can motivate players. They are not lacking that when playing in South Africa. I believe in creating the right environment. We tick all the boxes, tactically and physically. You cannot compare a series win here to World Cup. You have got something ahead of you. We learn how to move on. You have to perform in the second innings. You cannot let the disappointment of the past linger on. You have got something ahead of you.”
Here's India's squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk)
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