Confident India eye historic Test series win in South Africa
Jan 02, 2022
Johannesburg [South Africa], January 2 : India will look to stamp authority when they meet the Proteas in the second Test from Monday as the visitors eye a chance to seal their first-ever Test series win in South Africa.
India have never lost a match in the longest format of the game at the Wanderers and the visitors will try to maintain the streak this week.
India's middle-order has still not fired in the series but head coach Rahul Dravid feels some big scores will be there in the upcoming games from the visiting batters.
"I couldn't speak highly of him (Kohli) the way he is committed to his own preparation. And also with the way he has connected himself with the group on and off the field," said Dravid in the pre-match press conference.
"Even though he batted and couldn't convert those starts I really feel there will be a big run of scores once he clicks in," he added.
Not directly pointing towards Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, the former Indian skipper said there are phases in cricketers' careers when they are not able to replicate their past performance but added that it is just a matter of time for India's middle order before they come good.
"There are a variety of factors that happens. There are phases in your career where you probably are batting well but big scores are not coming. And it happens with everyone, but the good point is that they seem to be batting really well so they are getting the starts," said Dravid.
"They know how to convert it's not that these guys don't know how to score big runs. So it's just a matter of time, I am really hoping we will see some really good performance in coming days," he added.
On the other hand, South Africa will look to bank upon the conditions in their favour to win the second Test.
South Africa wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock on Thursday announced his retirement from Test cricket hours after the conclusion of the first Test.
The Proteas will have a lot to ponder upon in selecting the playing XI for the second Test in order to make full use of the conditions here.
"Our batters let us down. I'd say the batting was the difference between the two sides. We'll have a little sit-down with myself and the management to strategise. Didn't do a lot of wrong things. Not all doom and gloom for us. We thrive under pressure which is a positive for us," said South Africa skipper Dean Elgar as per ICC.
Squads: South Africa: Dean Elgar (c), Temba Bavuma, Sarel Erwee, Keegan Petersen, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, George Linde, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Prenelan Subrayen, Kyle Verreynne, Ryan Rickelton, Kagiso Rabada, Beuran Hendricks, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Glenton Stuurman, Sisanda Magala, Duanne Olivier.
India: Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shreyas Iyer, Priyank Panchal, Hanuma Vihari, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur.