India vs South Africa: Mayank Agarwal reveals Rahul Dravid hand in rediscovering his form

The
30-year-old
from
Karnataka
had
lost
his
place
in
the
team
after
being
ruled
out
of
the
first
Test
in
England
due
to
concussion.

He
then
made
a
strong
comeback
to
the
Test
set-up
with
scores
of
150
and
62
in
the
second
Test
against
New
Zealand
recently
as
India
won
the
series
against
World
Test
Champions
1-0.

“It
is
not
a
fresh
start.
The
last
one
year
that
went
by
was
a
lot
to
do
with
understanding
myself
and
understanding
what
ticks
me
and
what
hadn’t
worked
for
me,”
Agarwal
told
fellow
opener
and
India
vice-captain
KL
Rahul
during
a
chat,
a
video
of
which
was
posted
on
BCCI.tv.

“I
am
glad
that
I
could
comeback
and
put
in
the
performances
and
I
look
to
do
the
same.”

Talking
about
chief
coach
Dravid’s
contribution
in
the
process
of
understanding
himself,
Agarwal
said,
“For
me,
he
has
just
been
a
person
who
talks
about
understanding
yourself
and
understanding
your
mind
space.

“If
you
can
work
that
out
and
sort
that
out
then
more
often
then
not
you
are
giving
yourself
best
possible
chance
to
succeed.

“Knowing
him,
he
is
a
man
who
really
strives
and
puts
the
onus
on
a
good
strong
preparations.
We
had
quality
sessions
here
and
we
are
looking
forward
to
playing
the
Test
match,”
he
said
but
did
not
elaborate
what
exactly
he
learned.

Agarwal
and
Rahul
have
shared
the
dressing
for
the
Karnataka
state
team
and
have
also
opened
the
innings
together
for
Punjab
Kings
in
the
IPL
for
the
last
four
years.

Rahul
hoped
their
camaraderie
will
help
them
to
score
runs
together
and
win
India
matches,
starting
with
the
opening
Test
against
South
Africa
beginning
on
December
26.

“My
journey
has
been
beautiful,
I
wouldn’t
have
wanted
it
any
other
way.
You
have
been
part
of
my
journey
and
I
have
been
in
yours
and
we
both
had
to
work
hard
for
this,
for
both
of
us
it
has
been
a
beautiful
journey,”
KL
Rahul
said.

“We
had
our
doubts
if
we
play
for
India
and
we
never
gave
up
our
dreams
and
worked
harder
and
it
is
amazing
to
sometimes
sit
back
and
think
how
we
started
and
where
we
are
today,
it
is
magical
for
me.

“It
is
just
the
beginning
for
us
and
we
still
have
a
long
way
to
go
and
the
friendship
and
understanding
we
have
shared
for
so
many
years
will
only
help
us
build
better
partnership
and
win
more
matches
for
the
country.”

India
are
set
to
open
their
tour
of
South
Africa
on
December
26
with
the
first
Test
at
the
SuperSport
Park,
Centurion.
India
under
Virat
Kohli
would
be
eager
to
register
their
first
ever
Test
series
win
over
South
Africa
at
their
home.

India
had
never
beaten
SA
at
their
home
despite
touring
the
Rainbow
Nation
since
1992-93,
the
season
in
which
Proteas
were
re-admitted
to
the
world
cricket
after
the
Apartheid
era.