India vs South Africa: Indian team reaches South Africa after long flight
News Gateway / India vs South Africa / New Delhi /
Indian cricket team, captained by Virat Kohli, reached South Africa on Thursday night and made their way to the hotel soon upon arrival. The team reached Cape Town, after departing from Mumbai, to play the three match Test series which will be followed by six one day internationals and three T20 matches. The 56 day tour, starting January 5, is expected to be a true test for the Indian side which has stomped the oppositions aside on domestic surfaces.
In the video shared by BCCI, Kohli and wife Anushka Sharma, and other members of the Indian cricket team and support staff were seen entering the team hotel in Cape Town. Kohli and Anushka have been the talk of cricketing circles, despite India playing Sri Lanka in the same spell. But when the action on the field ended, where India won the Tests, ODIs and T20s, the players attended ‘Virushka’s’ wedding reception in Mumbai on December 26.
India have not won in South Africa in 25 years but Kohli maintained that Indian team has nothing to prove. “We have got rid of all the mental pressures of touring abroad and wanting to prove to people. We are not wanting to prove anything to anyone and our duty is to go out there, give our 100 per cent effort for the country and get the result that we want to,” Kohli had said before departure.
“It all depends on the kind of mindset you get into as batsman. Any place, even Indian conditions can be very difficult if you are not in a good frame of mind, so cricket is played with ball and bat and if you are not there mentally, it does not matter the conditions you are playing in.
“You need to take up challenges mentally and then every conditions seem like home conditions. If you get accustomed to where you are going and you start feeling comfortable embracing the culture, people, it becomes easier,” he added.
India have won only two Tests in South Africa over the years and the best scoreline has been a 1-1 series end on the 2010-11 tour.