Rahul Dravid, however, blamed the ongoing COVID-19 situation for having no warm-up games before the series opener which may make things difficult for the touring side, adding that the team has trained well on the centre wicket. India will be looking to clinch their first away Test series against South Africa.
Rahul Dravid spoke on the eve of the first Test at Centurion and explained how Team India is preparing for the much-awaited series. India has unfortunately received no practice games and that is because of the COVID-19 protocols after the outbreak of the new Omicron variant.
Rahul Dravid: Ajinkya Rahane Has Trained Very Well
South Africa hasn’t played Tests since June when they beat the West Indies 2-0. They have also lost often in recent times: to Pakistan away, to England at home. India, the No. 1 Test team, has breached the Gabba, won at the MCG, the Oval, and Lord’s, mostly with the same five-bowler setup.
“That’s just the way things are at the moment. Kind of schedules we are working with, the Covid situation and bubbles… not always easy to get what you want. We have really worked hard with center-wicket preparation,” Dravid told reporters on the eve of the first Test against South Africa.
Furthermore, under-fire Ajinkya Rahane has trained well for the South Africa challenge and seems to be in a good space, said Rahul Dravid on the senior batter whose place in the Playing XI has come under the scanner following a string of poor performances. The 33-year-old Ajinkya Rahane has managed to score just 411 runs in 12 Tests at an average of 19.57 this year.
A drop in form also led to Ajinkya Rahane losing the Test vice-captaincy to Rohit Sharma but Rahul Dravid has had “positive conversations” with the seasoned cricketer. Ajinkya Rahane averages over 40 in away conditions, with eight of his 12 Test tons coming outside the country, making a strong case to start in the Boxing Day Test versus South Africa, beginning December 26th in Centurion.
“I have had positive conversations with him, he has trained very well. It has been no different to conversations with others. He seems to be in good space,” said Dravid.
The South Africa series will be Rahul Dravid’s first away assignment as the head coach, having started his stint with a T20I series sweep against New Zealand at home. Rahul Dravid will be scratching his head over the team composition in South Africa, especially when he has an in-form but untested Shreyas Iyer in the artillery.
Rahul Dravid Is Studying His Indian Team Upfront
Earlier, Rahul Dravid had spoken about his experience after taking the charge of the senior men’s side.
“Just getting to know the boys and studying them upfront. The initial part of my coaching was observing how things are going and seeing what they are doing and yet not necessarily coming in and trying to change too much straight away. But just doing things in my own way and sort of getting the rest of the support staff, who are also new, getting them integrated, getting them to understand how the boys function in this environment,” Dravid had said.
India’s squad in South Africa consists of a perfect blend of veteran and experienced cricketers as well as youngsters as seven of the 18 players are 33 years or older, and it would have been eight had Rohit Sharma made the trip. Five others are in their 30s. Some of the over-30s and over-33s are in the middle of prolonged slumps in form. But Indian cricket is brimming with youthful talent in all departments.
Mayank Agarwal has continued his form from the home New Zealand Test series and is unbeaten 0n 56 from 115 balls with 8 hits to the fence while KL Rahul is batting on 39 from 113 balls hitting 6 boundaries. India has scored 105 without losing a solitary wicket in the 38th over.
The Indian opening pair of KL Rahul, the stand-in vice-captain, and Mayank Agarwal ended an 11-year wait for the team with their massive feat in the opening Test match against South Africa in Centurion on Sunday to join an elusive list.
They became the third Indian opening pair in Indian Test history to stitch a 100-run stand in a match in South Africa, joining the likes of Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik who had scored 153 in the Cape Town Test in 2007, and Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, who scored 137 in the Centurion Test in 2010.