Gearing up for the curtain raiser of the upcoming Test series against hosts South Africa, Team India head coach Rahul Dravid attended the traditional press conference ahead of the series opener at Centurion on Saturday. Under the leadership of skipper Virat Kohli, India will hope to script history in their first away tour since Dravid’s appointment as the new head coach of the men’s senior team.
Dravid, who replaced Ravi Shastri after the ICC World T20 2021 had guided Team India to a series win over Kane Williamson’s New Zealand in his first assignment as the full-time head coach of the Asian giants. Though India have never won a Test series on South African soil, Team India can script history under the leadership of skipper Kohli in the rainbow nation this season.
Speaking at the final press conference ahead of the 1st Test match between India and South Africa, head coach Dravid was asked about Ajinkya Rahane’s lean patch and what conversation he had with the former vice-captain during these testing times. “The conversations with him have been very positive, he’s training really well this week. The conversations are no different from actually with most of the players. He seems to be in a really good space,” Dravid said in the press conference.
Either one of Rahane or Shreyas Iyer will get a chance to feature in India’s middle-order for the Boxing Day Test. Kohli’s deputy Rahul had also hinted that India will continue with its five-bowler strategy in the series opener against South Africa. The batting legend was also asked about India’s playing XI for the Boxing Day Test against the Proteas. “In terms of the playing XI, who’s going to play you know, I think we’re very clear within our group, what the kind of team is going to be leading into the Boxing Day test match,” Dravid said.
Team India will play three Test matches with hosts South Africa as part of their ongoing campaign in the ICC World Test Championship. Kohli-led Team India side had contested the final of the inaugural World Test Championship with eventual champions – New Zealand. The Boxing Day Test match between India and the Proteas will be played at SuperSport Park on Sunday. Earlier, newly appointed vice-captain KL Rahul had hinted that India will make a tough call for the number five slot of the Indian batting order.
