Head coach Rahul Dravid has said that India Test team skipper Virat Kohli has a great role to play as a player, as a captain. But when it came down to the ongoing captaincy dispute, Dravid said that it is the role of the the selector and he is not going to reveal the the internal conversations publicly.
“From a Test team perspective, we have series to win. We won against New Zealand but South Africa series is going to be a tough one. World Test Championship final is also in our mind. Hopefully, we keep improving and move towards our goal. Virat has a great role to play as a player, captain. He is one of the players who loves Test cricket.
“That is the role of the selector (the captaincy issue). I am not going to the internal conversations I had with individual players. It is certainly not going to come out in public,” Dravid said in a virtual press conference on Saturday (December 25).
Dravid has said that India have got a good mix of experience to face the conditions they will come across in the three- match Test series against South Africa.
"It has always been a challenge because of the alien nature of the conditions. It does take time to get used to the wickets. Especially when we start here in Centurion where even on the first couple of days in the nets you realise that it is considerably different to what you are used to.
"But I think there is good quality and experience in this team. What we can take confidence from now is that a lot of our players have now been travelling quite extensively over the last few years. The team is quite settled. We have some young players but we have also got guys with experience for whom this is not necessarily their first tour. We have done our bit in training, and we will now do our best to adapt and execute when the game starts,” said Dravid who had played 11 matches in South Africa and scored the first of his 36 Test centuries.
India will start their three-match Test series against South Africa on December 26 and Indian Test team under the captaincy of Kohli will aim to win India’s first-ever Test series victory in the Rainbow Nation, so the importance of a good start is known to all. Dravid believes that it is always nice to win the first Test match/
“It is important but not that important. But it is always nice to win the first match and start well. If we can put them under pressure,” said the 48-year old head coach.
