IND vs SA LIVE – Rahul Dravid press conference: India head coach Rahul Dravid has kept the suspense intact on who will play India’s finisher role in the five-match T20 series. With Hardik Pandya back in Team India besides return of Dinesh Karthik, India have two players who can play the finisher’s role. But Dravid refused to reveal if Karthik would get a go. Follow Dravid PC LIVE Updates & India vs South Africa live updates with InsideSport.IN
“With Dinesh, it is clear with the role. At the backend of the game, he can make a difference. That’s why he has been picked, to bat in those positions and deliver for India as well,” Rahul Dravid said at the pre-series press conference on Tuesday.
IND vs SA LIVE: Rahul Dravid happy to have Hardik Pandya & Dinesh Karthik back but keeps suspense on Finisher’s spot: Follow LIVE Updates
With Dinesh Karthik although the team management expects him to play the finisher’s role, it’s still not clear whether he is immediate plans. With another T20 World Cup approaching, Hardik is expected to play a crucial role in the lead up to the tournament in October.
“Very pleasing to have Hardik Pandya back. Hardik’s leadership was impressive right through the IPL. You need to be a designated leader to be part of a leadership group. From our perspective, we would want to get the best out of his skills, batting bowling and fielding,” Dravid said.
India missed Hardik in the T20 World Cup 2021 and lacked the balance as the five players in the squad did not bowl. With Hardik, that issue will now be solved.
On Hardik Pandya:
RD: Very pleasing to have Hardik Pandya back. Hardik’s leadership was impressive right through the IPL. You need to be designated leader to be part of the leadership group. From our perspective, we would want to get the best out of his skills, batting bowling and fielding.
On resting Rohit Sharma:
Rohit is our all-format player. It would be unwise to expect everyone to be available all the time. We want them to be fit and fresh as well. There would be times when we would have to rest our big players.
On KL Rahul’s slow approach
We are looking for good starts. We know our top 3. If it is high scoring games, we would want them to maintain that strike rate throughout but there would be tricky matches too. We have the kind of quality at top 3, who can deliver.
IND vs SA LIVE: Rahul Dravid happy to have Hardik Pandya & Dinesh Karthik back but keeps suspense on Finisher’s spot: Follow LIVE Updates
On Dinesh Karthik’s role in Team India
With Dinesh, it is clear with the role. At the backend of the game, he can make a difference. That’s why he has been picked, to bat in those positions and deliver for India as well.
On Umran Malik
He’s quick and improving with every session. He has a lot to learn. We have to be realistic about the game time because we have a large squad.
On World Record:
We are not thinking about the World Record. We don’t pay attention to such stats. If we play well, we will win and if we don’t we won’t.
IND vs SA LIVE: Rahul Dravid happy to have Hardik Pandya & Dinesh Karthik back but keeps suspense on Finisher’s spot: Follow LIVE Updates
IND vs SA LIVE: Rahul Dravid happy to have Hardik Pandya & Dinesh Karthik back but keeps suspense on Finisher’s spot: Follow LIVE Updates
India Squad for South Africa: KL Rahul (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain)(wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
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