"As a team, we've always taken overseas series as a challenge." © AFP
India's poor record in South Africa - where the team has won only three Tests out of 20 and have never registered a series win - will be the key motivating factor this time around feels the vice-captain for the series KL Rahul. India lost the opening two Tests in 2018 but registered a memorable win in Johannesburg in the last Test end the tour 2-1.

"It's a huge series," started Rahul. "As a team, we've always taken overseas series as a challenge. A lot has been said and written about India not winning series overseas which we've worked really hard towards. We've won series in England and Australia, which gives us a lot of confidence. We haven't won a series in South Africa so that gives us the extra motivation to go out there and try and learn from the mistakes from the past tours.

"The discussion so far has only been about the first Test. We are not thinking too far ahead. The first Test of the series is the most important and all our focus has been to try and do well in the first game."

With Rohit Sharma ruled out of the Test series because of an injury, India will partner Mayank Agarwal with Rahul to open the innings. While India are favourites this time around, Rahul feels it'll be crucial for the openers to give the side a solid start to fight in the series. "Getting the team off to a good start in any overseas series is the most important thing as a batter," he pointed out. "The last time I was here was 3-4 years, and I didn't really know about what to expect and handle these conditions. This time around, having played two Tests and having watched a lot of videos of how the conditions, we are slightly better prepared.

"The pace and bounce in the pitches here are very different from any other country. That's why I felt it was important that we came here early and adjusted to the pitches here. We've had a great week of preparation. We've had match simulations and tried to get used to the conditions. The pitches here can be challenging because of the tennis-ball bounce. We've played in Australia where the pitches are fast and bouncy, but here it can be a bit spongy and then it starts to quicken up."

Rahul played a key role in India going up 2-1 in England before the series was stopped because of the COVID-19 cases in the camp. He was the second-highest run-getter for the side with 315 runs from eight innings behind Rohit Sharma. And while Rahul stressed the vice-captaincy won't have any impact on his batting, his aim stays the same as England. "I've tried to play close to the body and leave a lot of balls outside the off stump, see off the new ball, which is the most important thing," he said. "We've seen historically that the new ball plays a big part. If we can play off the new ball and not give any wickets in the 25-30 overs, my focus now is play really tight."