India head coach Rahul Dravid shared his expectations from the national team players on the tour of South Africa which begins with a 3-T20I series on December 10. India will also play 3 ODIs and 2 Tests against South Africa.
Rahul Dravid was handed an extension on his job as India's head coach, along with his support staff. This extension reportedly runs till the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies. India will be without Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammad Shami in the white-ball leg of the tour.
Dravid called South Africa one of the more difficult places to bat, insisting that every Indian batter will have a game plan in place during the series.
“So, it is a challenging place to bat; the statistics will tell you that. It is one of the more difficult places to bat in, especially up here in Centurion and Johannesburg. The wickets do tend to do a bit, and they tend to get up and down as well. Every one of the batsmen will have a game plan as to how they want to go, as long as they are clear about it and they commit to it and are practicing towards that, that’s fine,” said Dravid to Star Sports.
The Indian head coach further added that he wants Indian players to make match-winning contributions whenever they get an opportunity. The two-Test series will begin on December 26 and will give India another opportunity to win a Test series in South Africa, something that they haven’t done thus far.
“We don’t expect everyone to play in the same way. We want them to be very clear about what works for them, and then be able to execute that. The boys, once they get out there, a lot of it is mental, and I guess, you know, we try and stress on the fact that if we do get going if we get the opportunity to get set, they try to make it a match-winning contribution,” Dravid added.
India will begin the T20I series on a high note as they recently defeated Australia 4-1 at home.
