Dravid: It will be interesting to see young players try their hand at a strong South African team

Having to guide the Indian team through a five-match T20 series against South Africa without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasosystem Bumrah will not be much of a problem and will allow for a strengthening of the bench through the exposure to budding stars, head coach Rahul Dravid.

Several new faces have been seen going through drills at Feroz Shah Kotla here in hot weather as they prepare for their first ever T20I against South Africa on Thursday. Hardik Pandya, who emerged with an enhanced reputation in IPL 2022, was also part of the training sessions; At a press conference here, Dravid revealed that he was given an extra day off before the series to play the IPL final.

The Indian team during a training session in New Delhi on Tuesday. – RV Moorthy

India enters the competition on top of a record in the T20I format – among consecutive wins by an international team. A win would take it a world record – 13 wins in a row. Dravid said the group is not bothered by such records and it is not included in the group management discussions.

‘No worries about records’

“Not having to worry about creating records, we want to win every game we play,” he said.

“We want to prepare and practice well, come on the field with the right strategy, and try to execute. We realized we were playing against a very strong South African team, which was really exciting for me. It’s going to give us a really good test and a lot of our young players who might not have had a chance if all of our players were playing, it gives them a chance. opportunity to test yourself against a very good team. That’s the interesting part for us. ”

Dravid said players who play all formats for India cannot be expected for every game. Rohit and the others are being preserved for the Fifth Test in Edgbaston.

“Rohit is one of our diverse players; We don’t expect him to be in every game, all the time. We also want to make sure we’re fit for the big tournaments; we need to manage them before that to make sure they peak for the big leagues, big games. With the UK Singles Test match, we’ll try to make sure we get the best side out of it. With the kind of hectic schedule we have, [not having the best players] didn’t really bother us.

“In my opinion, it is interesting to see so many younger boys getting a chance to play that they probably don’t get. Increase the depth of our team. I think there are also some positives to it,” said Dravid.

‘Nice to see Indians taking a good lead in IPL’

With his success at IPL, Hardik Pandya is said to be a possible choice for a future national team leadership role. Dravid praises him, but plays down the hype.

“His leadership is so impressive, right through the IPL his team did a great job. You don’t have to be designated as a leader to be part of any leadership team. At this point, a good thing from our point of view is that he has started bowling again. You know what that does to us; What depth brings to our side. It’s about making sure we get the most out of him as a cricketer, about his bowling, about his batting, about his contributions. As for what lies ahead and whether someone leads the team or not, it depends on many common factors.

“It’s great that we have so many Indian captains doing well in the IPL. Hardik is one of them. Rahul did a great job with LSG. Sanju with Royals. It’s nice to see that the youth are leading so many of their teams now, it’s great. Shreyas also did it for KKR. It helps people to grow and develop as players. It also helps you grow as a person,” says Dravid.

Umran ‘interesting’

Dravid welcomes Umran Malik’s entry to the India squad, but is uncertain about how quickly Sunrisers Hyderabad will get in the five-match series.

“He is very interesting. Definitely quick bowled. The other interesting thing about IPL to me is that – from the outside looking in – some Indian guys bowling really fast. As a coach of all three of the game’s formats, I’d love to see those translated into the game’s longer formats as well. I watched Umran yesterday on the grid, you can see he has that speed,” he said.

Dravid warns: Members of the 11 currently playing may not be playing the right roles they did while playing for their club in the IPL. He explained that the team leadership required India’s players to be available for slightly different roles based on team requirements and match scenario. The top three, for example, will be needed to comfortably play the pairing role should players fall early, as well as be able to score freely on the field and attack in favor of attack.

Mr. Dravid revealed: “Veteran player Dinesh Karthik has excelled as a finisher in the IPL and will likely be tested in that role again for the national team.

“He came back based on the skills he showed in a particular phase of the game. Finally, Dinesh has been able to really show off the skills over the past two or three years. We will pick him for that position and see if he can replicate those performances for India. ”