Xtra Time Web Desk: Team India Vice-captain and opener KL Rahul is quite acquainted with the challenges batting in the rainbow nation but highlighted that helping the team with a solid start will set the pace for victory, ahead of the first test match scheduled to begin from 26th December.
Men in blue have never clinched a victory playing against the Proteas n the latter’s home soil but their confidence has been boosted given the recent streak of success against England and New Zealand.
“In a foreign series, getting the team off to a good start is the most important thing as a batsman. Last time I came here was 3-4 years ago, and it was my first tour to South Africa, so I didn’t really know what to expect and how to handle these conditions. But this time around, having played two Test matches here before and having watched a lot of videos of how the conditions are here, we are slightly better prepared,” Rahul told reporters in a virtual press conference.
“And we’ve had great preparation going into the Test match, so really excited about 26th and hopefully, I and Mayank can get our team off to a good start and try and win the game for our team, ” stated Rahul
The opener also gave an insight of his previous experience and playing conditions in rainbow nation saying: “I haven’t played a lot of games here in South Africa, but from my experience, I think sometimes the pitches can be a little bit challenging because of the tennis-ball bounce and we played in Australia where the pitches are fast and bouncy. But here, it can be a bit spongy in the first couple of days, and then it starts to quicken up. So when I played the last time, each time the wicket was a bit difficult and you had to understand and adjust according to that. So that becomes a huge challenge for both batters and bowlers. We are really looking forward to this series because South Africa is an exciting place to play cricket, it comes with a lot of challenges, so we are all looking forward to the challenge,” .