'Can’t just rely on a Kohli or Pujara' - Rahul Dravid lays emphasis on team contribution ahead of South Africa Tests

India head coach Rahul Dravid has emphasised the importance of clicking in unison rather than relying on individual brilliance to succeed in a challenging series like one India starts against South Africa from December 26, comprising three Tests and as many ODIs.

Indian middle-order, despite boasting the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, has been under the scanner as the trio has failed to deliver for quite some time. Kohli’s last triple-figure in the format dates back to the 2019 pink-ball Test against Bangladesh in Kolkata; Pujara has not breached that barrier in 42 innings since the Sydney Test of January 2019, while Rahane’s rut has lasted 21 innings, with his last ton being the 112 at MCG in December 2020.

Despite such form by the backbone of the Indian batting line-up, Dravid feels that India cannot and should not rely on a few names should they want to succeed in South Africa, where they have only won three games in their Test history. South Africa is the only country where India have not won a Test series, having travelled for the first time in 1992. They lost the most recent series (2018) by a margin of 2-1.

One of the things that we have talked to the group about is that these kinds of series are won by good team performances. Everyone needs to play their part. You can’t just rely on Virat Kohli or a Pujara or one of the guys to do the job,” Dravid said on the eve of the Boxing Day Test in Centurion. “If we want to be successful here, we are going to need contributions from everyone – our top seven, eight.”

Dravid further highlighted the importance of runs from the lower-order, which has been an area India showed immense improvement in during the England series earlier this year.

“Even the lower-order, the value of their contributions in these games can be slightly low-scoring than say, in other parts of the world,” Dravid said. “Every contribution is going to be important and Pujji [Pujara] is an important part of that line-up as is anyone else. It’s very rare in a series like this that one person is going to score in every single game and dominate a series.”

On dressing room environment 

The 48-year-old stated that the team’s focus remains to be in a good headspace, given the challenging tour they have in store.

“Hopefully, I am not going to mess them up mentally (laughs). At this level, a lot of the chat is around keeping the guys in a good space, keeping them relaxed, challenged and excited about the contest. There are a few conversations around the technique but a lot of it is about thinking positively and wanting to compete.”

Dravid, who has plenty of experience of playing in the land of the Proteas, having also won a Test during his captaincy tenure apart from being a part of the 2003 ODI World Cup squad that ended up as the runners-up, admitted that South Africa offers a different challenge for the batters.

“These conditions can be a bit challenging, especially as a batsman. Sometimes there are varying conditions. You can start a Test match where the ball can seam around a bit. The bounce can be a bit tennis ball-like. It tends to quicken up sometimes on days 2,3 and 4. Then, it can get a bit up and down on day 5.”

On the South Africa team

South Africa, who will miss the services of Anrich Nortje, and later Quinton de Kock, were termed “very good” by the Indian coach despite the missing names.

“I don’t think this (South African) attack is casual by any stretch of the imagination. I think it is a very good South African attack. I will certainly say that our attack is more experienced than the South African attack at this point in time in terms of the number of Test matches played, which probably might not have been the case in the past.”

“But they have got quality, some very good bowlers in their home conditions and they have got some proven performers as well. We are not going to take them either casually or lightly,” he added.

The first Test will be played from December 26-30 in Centurion, followed by the second in Johannesburg from January 3-7 and the third and final one in Cape Town from January 11-15. The subsequent ODI series, which will not be a part of the ICC ODI World Cup Super League, will commence on January 19 in Paarl, which will also host the second ODI on January 21 before the final one in Cape Town on January 23.