India vs South Africa: 'Try to make match-winning contribution', Rahul Dravid urges players ahead of Proteas' challenge

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has said that South Africa would be a challenging place to bat, and that every batter would have to come up with a game plan to tackle the conditions.  India’s tour of South Africa starts with a T20I in Durban on Sunday (10 December). The three-match T20I series will be followed by as many ODIs and two Tests. India have never won a Test series in South Africa, and the upcoming two-match series will add more relevance since it is part of the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. The two Tests will be played in Centurion and Cape Town. India will be led by three different captains for the series. While Suryakumar Yadav will lead the T20I side, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma will captain India in ODIs and Tests respectively. Also read: Challenges that lie ahead for Rahul Dravid as India head coach “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,” Dravid said on Star Sports. “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,” he added. Dravid, whose contract as India head coach was extended by the BCCI recently, said that it was important for every player to be clear with their roles. This will be Dravid’s first assignment as head coach since guiding India to the ODI World Cup final in November, when they had lost to Australia by six wickets. “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,” added the 50-year-old.