Rahul Dravid's first assignment as the India head coach after his renewal of contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the daunting South Africa trip.
As Dravid's contract expired after the ODI World Cup 2023, it was speculated that he would no longer continue as the India head coach with the loss in the final versus Australia possibly ending his stint.
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It was also reported that at least two IPL franchises have approached Dravid to join them as the team mentor or head coach. However, the BCCI brought an end to all the speculations, confirming that Dravid will remain at the helm.
While T20Is kick off the series, followed by ODIs, the Test series is crucial as it remains an unconquered summit for the Indian cricket team. And Dravid who has himself been to South Africa as a player on several occasions is well versed with the tricky conditions that await them.
What did Rahul Dravid say?
Speaking on how the batsmen should approach the South African bowling attack he said to Star Sports: "So, it is a challenging place to bat; the statistics will tell you that. It is one of the more difficult places to bat in, especially up here in Centurion and Johannesburg. The wickets do tend to do a bit, and they tend to get up and down as well. Every one of the batsmen will have a game plan as to how they want to go, as long as they are clear about it and they commit to it and are practising towards that, that's fine. We don't expect everyone to play in the same way.
"We want them to be very clear about what works for them, and then be able to execute that. The boys, once they get out there, a lot of it is mental, and I guess, you know, we try and stress on the fact that if we do get going if we get the opportunity to get set, they try to make it a match-winning contribution."
India vs South Africa: Complete Schedule of T20Is, ODIs and Test matches
T20 Dates and Schedule
| Date | Venue | Time |
| December 10 | Kingsmead, Durban | 9:30 pm |
| December 12 | St George's Park, Gqeberha | 9:30 pm |
| December 14 | New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg | 9:30 pm |
ODIs Dates and Schedule
| Date | Venue | Time |
| December 17 | New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg | 1:30 |
| December 19 | St George's Park, Gqeberha | 4:30 |
| December 21 | Boland Park, Paarl | 4:30 |
Tests Dates and Schedule
| Date | Venue | Time |
| December 26-30 | SuperSport Park, Centurion | 1:30 pm |
| January 3-7 | Newlands, Cape Town | 2:00 pm |
Complete Indian squads for T20Is, ODIs and Test matches in South Africa
On Thursday, 30 November, the BCCI announced the squads for India's tour of South Africa. They are as follows.
Test squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.
ODI squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C)(wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar.
T20I squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar.
The board also released a statement clarifying that both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had requested a break from the white-ball matches, and that Mohammed Shami's inclusion was subject to fitness as he is currently undergoing a recovery from injury.
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