India’s head coach Rahul Dravid has put his weight behind the team’s under-firing middle order to come up with the goods in the upcoming matches.
The likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane haven’t been in the best of forms in the last two years and the pressure is piling on them to come up with consistent performances.
Dravid added that it is imperative for his batting order to set up the game and KL Rahul’s knock of 123 runs in the first innings of the opening Test played a key role in helping the team post a total of 327 runs. India had posted 272-3 on the opening day after Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first and it set up the game for the visitors.
Meanwhile, India’s middle-order failed to convert their into substantial scores however Dravid understands that the conditions aren’t easy for the batters as one is never settled in challenging conditions of South Africa.
“It’s not a question about being worried. It’s about recognizing as a batsman that, look, (as) a middle-order player, it is sometimes tough to bat and is not easy to bat in these conditions. But when you do get set, it’s really nice if one of your top 3 or top 4 can convert that to a big score,” said Dravid. “We saw the value of that in Rahul’s 100,” he added.
On the other hand, Cheteshwar Pujara was dismissed for a golden duck in the first innings and he could only score 16 runs in the second essay. Pujara hasn’t been in the best of forms and he will need to get a big score under his belt.
“You know if that happens, it really sets you up very well as a team and it would be great if Pujara can do that. We know when he does that, a lot of times India wins those games or we put ourselves in really good positions”, said Dravid.
India was able to draw first blood in the series as they won by 113 runs at Centurion, registering their maiden win on the venue. Team India is undefeated at the Wanderers and they will look to create history while South Africa will look to make a solid comeback in the series.
The second Test match will be played at Johannesburg from today.
