ND vs SA | Batting unit should look to seize a few key moments, opines Rahul Dravid after Johannesburg Test

ND vs SA | Batting unit should look to seize a few key moments, opines Rahul Dravid after Johannesburg Test

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South Africa series is first overseas Test series for Rahul Dravid as India head coach

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India head coach Rahul Dravid had opined that the batting unit should seize key moments and that they were 60-70 runs short in the first innings of the Johannesburg Test after losing the fixture. South Africa won the second Test by seven wickets and the third Test will be a series decider.

The three match Test series between India and South Africa is levelled at 1-1 and the third Test will decide the winner of the series. Shardul Thakur was an impressive performer for India in the fixture but his efforts were not enough to help them win. KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara also contributed with half-centuries. South Africa were chasing a target of 240 in the second innings and they chased it with loss of only three wickets. 

India head coach Rahul Dravid has opined that India’s first innings total of 202 was below par and India were at least 70 runs short. He further added that the total made the difference in the outcome of the fixture. 

“The wickets in the first two Tests have been a little challenging, I will give that to the batsmen. But we pride ourselves on wanting to do better and the batting unit certainly can look to maybe seize a few key moments and when we get those partnerships, maybe make them a little bit longer," said Dravid at the post-match press conference. 

"We could have probably got 60-70 runs more in that first innings. Probably that could have made a significant difference to this game and we would like to bat a bit better and need to keep improving," he added. 

KL Rahul continued his impressive form and scored 50 in the first innings but was unable to convert into a hundred. In the second innings, Ajinkya Rahane scored 58 runs while Cheteshwar Pujara played a knock of 53 runs. Dravid said that some batsmen were unable to convert their starts into hundreds while Dean Elgar scored 96 for the opposition and that was the difference between two sides. 

“May be some of the guys who got starts could have converted into hundreds and that was difference in the first Test as we had Rahul in the first game, who had got hundred for us and we ended up on the winning side.”

"In the second game they had someone (Dean Elgar) scoring 96 and they ended up on winning side," he added.  

The third Test of the series will be played in Cape Town from January 11 and both the teams will aim to win the fixture to secure a series win. 

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