South Africa VS India: Rahul Dravid want's his players to put in 'quality practice' and show 'good intensity'

After arriving in South Africa on Friday, Team India have been putting in the hard yards at the training sessions before the first of three-Test series against the Proteas, starting on December 26. The batters seemed to have a day out in tougher conditions on the second day of the practice at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. Head coach Rahul Dravid could be heard telling the players to put in “quality practice” and show “good intensity” in the sessions. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a sneak peek of India’s tense training session.

Also read: India vs South Africa: KL Rahul named vice captain for upcoming Test series

“Team India had an intense net session at SuperSport Park in the build up to the first Test,” the BCCI captioned the video on Twitter.

#TeamIndia had an intense nets session ?? at SuperSport Park ?️ in the build up to the first #SAvIND Test.

Here’s @28anand taking you closer to all the action from Centurion. ? ?

Watch this special feature ? ?https://t.co/Dm6hVDz71w pic.twitter.com/qjxnBszmDa

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 20, 2021

“The next three days are going to be extremely important in terms of our preparations and getting ourselves ready for the first Test. Just quality practice and good intensity,” Dravid said to the Indian players in the video.

This will be Dravid’s first overseas tour as the head coach of the Indian team, having helped the team register a win against New Zealand in the recently concluded home series.

Led by new limited overs captain Rohit sharma, India swept the T20I series 3-0. Test skipper Virat Kohli had missed the first Test, which ended in a thrilling draw but returned to captain the side to victory in the second Test as India won the two-match Test series 1-0.

“Today was a centre wicket practice session. It was a fresh wicket with overcast conditions, pretty challenging for the batters. So extremely happy with the way they went about it today,” said batting coach Vikram Rathour. While batter Shreyas Iyer said that the conditions were a “bowler’s delight”, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said that it is a challenge for the bowlers to hit the right spots and exploit the conditions as well.

I think Jassi and Shami bowled pretty well: Ishant Sharma

“You have to be prepared for such conditions. Yes we thought it would be sunny when we walked out here. Overcast conditions are always challenging from the bowlers’ perspective as well to hit the right areas. You will get these kind of conditions in a Test match and you should be able to exploit them,” said Mhambrey.

South Africa hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Team India, especially in the longest format of the game. In the previous seven visits to South Africa, India have endured drubbing on six occasions. 

Fast bowler Ishant Sharma said that fellow pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami did pretty well and so did the batters.

“It was damp initially, moving a bit. I think Jassi and Shami bowled pretty well. They (batsmen) played pretty well. They know what kind of bowlers they will face and how the conditions will be,” said Ishant.

India will be without the services of newly appointed Test vice-captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja as both of them are undergoing rehabilitation at National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore for their respective injuries.