“That Will Benefit The Team”: Rahul Dravid Reveals What He Expects From Virat Kohli In South Africa

Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid said he hopes for a “great series” from Test skipper Virat Kohli in South Africa. Speaking to the media on the eve of the first of the three-match Test series, Dravid lauded Kohli, calling him a “fantastic” player and leader. “We want to keep improving as a team in Tests. Virat (Kohli) has played a huge role in that. As a player and leader, he’s been fantastic. He’s one of those who really loves Test cricket, hopefully he has a great series. That will benefit the team,” Dravid told reporters on Saturday.

Dravid’s comments came just weeks after Kohli’s explosive press conference contradicting BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s claim regarding communication regarding the two parties over the change in white-ball captaincy.

Kohli was replaced by Rohit Sharma as India’s ODI captain just a couple of months after the former had stepped down as T20I skipper.

Dravid refused to reveal whether he had any discussion with either the BCCI or Kohli over the captaincy change.

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“It’s the role of the selectors. I am not going to get into individual conversations that I might have had. This is not the time or place. Whatever discussions I have had, I am certainly not going to discuss it with the media,” Dravid added.

Asked about the playing XI for the opening Test in Centurion, Dravid said, “In terms of the playing XI, we are very clear within the group about what the team will be going into the Test. But that’s how I would like to keep it as. So while we are clear, we certainly don’t want to inform our opposition about it,” Dravid explained.