Centurion (South Africa), Dec 24 (Agency) India Test vice-captain KL Rahul on Friday said that the team is “slightly better prepared than the last time” ahead of the first match against South Africa. The five-match Test series between India and South Africa begins on December 26 in Centurion. The Freedom Trophy series is part of the 2021–2023 ICC World Test Championship (WTC). When India toured South Africa in 2017–18, the Proteas won the three-match Test series 2–1. “We are slightly better prepared than the last time (2017–18),” said Rahul while addressing a virtual press conference. “Hopefully, Mayank Agarwal & I will go off to a good start and give the team a good platform. My focus has been really to play tight and not give away wickets in the first 30-35 Overs of the new ball.” The India top-order batter, who hasn’t played a lot of cricket in South Africa, added that pitches could pose a challenge.
“I haven’t played a lot of games in South Africa but my experience is that the pitches could be challenging. Here, the pitch could be spongy. That is the main difference compared to the fast & bouncy pitches of Australia.” Earlier, Rohit Sharma was named as vice-captain in the red-ball cricket, replacing Ajinkya Rahane from the duties. Rohit was, however, ruled out of the Test series due to a hamstring injury and then Rahul was appointed as the deputy captain. When asked will the vice captaincy make any difference, Rahul said, “There will be responsibility due to the vice captaincy. I will play with more responsibility. Otherwise, I don’t think it will make any difference.” India will kick off the series on the back of victories against Australia, England and New Zealand. The men in blue are currently at the fourth position in the World Test Championship table. Sri Lanka hold the top spot, followed by Australia and Pakistan at the second and third place. “It’s a huge series for us as a team. We always take away series as a challenge. We have worked really hard on this. Winning in Australia, in England has given us good confidence,” Rahul signed off.