Take SA tour as challenge: Dravid to team

Hours before embarking on a gruelling tour of South Africa, Indian captain Rahul Dravid advised his team-mates not to be weighed down by their past failures but treat the series as a challenge and an opportunity to excel.

Dravid said it was imperative for the established batsmen to score runs during the South Africa tour which assumes importance with the World Cup round the corner.

"We have to adjust to the bouncing ball in South Africa that will be critical. The batsmen have to show patience. I think the courage and character of the team will be tested," Dravid said on Monday.

The team will leave on Monday night for South Africa where it is scheduled to play a five-match One-Day series and three Tests.

"We have not done well in the past few months, but I want to view this tour as a great opportunity," he said. The captain said the wickets in South Africa will allow the batsmen to play their shots.

"The wickets will give us a chance to play shots. On the low and slow wickets here, the backfoot game was taken out. It will give us a lot more options to play our shots".

India have won just three of their 16 one-dayers in South Africa since 1992, but Dravid said his side had the talent to give a good account of themselves this time.

"We have not done well in South Africa in the past and we'd like to put in good performances this time. That will give us a lot of confidence going into the World Cup," he said.

The Indian skipper, however, told his team-mates not to worry too much about the World Cup at this stage, and concentrate only on the South Africa tour.

Dravid said the return of veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble would help the team on the difficult tour.

"Obviously, his experience and knowledge will help us. We always had him in our plans, but we need to manage him in terms of the amount of cricket he plays," said Dravid.

"Leading into the World Cup, we can now give him enough games so that he goes into the big tournament ready and fit to play."

Kumble, 36, has not been considered for limited-overs cricket since August 2005, despite being the most successful Indian bowler in both forms of the game, with 533 Test and 329 one-day wickets.

But India suffered a setback when hard-hitting batsman Yuvraj Singh was ruled out of the tour due to a knee injury.

Dravid told his team-mates not to worry too much about the World Cup at this stage, and concentrate only on the South Africa tour.

"Yuvraj had a great run for the last one and half years, but we cannot do anything about injuries. It will give another youngster an opportunity to put in some good performances," Dravid said.

"We missed Sachin (Tendulkar), Viru (Sehwag) and Harbhajan at some stages. It is always disappointing to lose a key player. Youngsters learn from these opportunities and hopefully when Yuvraj is back, we will have a better team."

Asked whether the additional responsibility of captaincy was affecting his batting, Dravid said "I am constantly learning, facing new challenges. I have done well as a batsman even when I am captain. I am pretty confident in handling the two roles.

"What is important is to score the run that applies not only to me but to everybody" he said. Dravid said the team had worked on the grey areas and was going into the series with a positive frame of mind.

"We have worked on the areas which need improvement. We are pretty clear what we need to do. Such tours tend to bring people together and I hope we can play some good cricket."

Coach Greg Chappell, who was also present at the press conference, said the team had the wherewithal to do well in South Africa as the wickets there will favour strokeplay.

"We have some players who have done well. The tracks there will give us more options for playing strokes unlike the wickets in the sub-continent. But what is most important is to put the basics together.

India have won just three of their 16 one-dayers in South Africa since 1992

In 16 ODIs against the Proteas in South Africa, the Men in Blue have won just three. In 9 Tests, they've never come out on top.