Game plan to tame difficult S Africa pitches key to tour success: Dravid

NEW DELHI: India head coach Rahul Dravid has asked every player to make a match-winning contribution in a long month tour of South Africa.

India is set to face South Africa for a three-match T20I, three-match ODI, and two-match Test series starting from Sunday. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the Indian side for the first T20 match at Durban.

Dravid believes South African pitches are difficult to bat on and wants batters to have a game plan for batting responsibly.

“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 media.

Dravid also expressed the mental toughness that will be required to play on the African continent rather than physical toughness.

“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 be taking on South Africa in a two-match Test series, starting December 26. India has never defeated South Africa in an away Test series.