MUMBAI – India, the world's No 1 ranked Test team, will arrive in South Africa on Friday for a tour taking in three Tests, six One-Day Internationals (ODI) and three Twenty20 Internationals starting with the first Test on January 5 in Cape Town.
The team left for South Africa in the early hours of Thursday.
India's captain Virat Kohli opted out of the recent limited-overs series against Sri Lanka to marry Anushka Sharma but maintained he was prepared for the gruelling South Africa tour.
Prior to flying out from Mumbai, Kohli told the media that it was not difficult for him to return to cricket after the marriage celebrations.
"It was not difficult at all, I was away for something (marriage) which is much more important. That is a period that will always remain special for both of us."
Talking about the South African tour Kohli said that his team was feeling very confident, about where they stood, in terms of balance that the side has and the kind cricket that we have been playing.
"Of course, we haven’t played in conditions, apart from the Champions Trophy, where we also did really well. We haven’t really played in conditions consistently, outside of India.
"Sri Lanka was very similar to our conditions, it is in a way too but we are talking about a whole different prospect here, which we understand as a team, we are looking forward to it.
"Every tour is a chance, if you look at it, teams that have gone to South Africa in the past, you are talking about some of the biggest names in Indian cricket, it was not like that was a chance, you need to play really good cricket for a long period of time to win series aboard and that’s something that we are pretty excited about.
"We want to go to South Africa and express ourselves, the most important thing, that we are enjoying each and others company, that what exactly what we are looking to do."
Discussing the matter of touring abroad Kohli said India had rid itself of all the mental pressures and wanting to prove to people they had what it takes.
"We are not wanting to prove anything to anyone, our duty is to go out there, give our 100 percent for the country, and get the results that we want to. Sometimes we’ll get it, sometimes we won’t, it happens at home, it will happen away, as well.
"We need to be realistic with what we are doing, it’s the only way we’ll be able to stay in the present and execute the things, we want to.
"We are just going out there to play cricket, it does not matter, whether we are in South Africa, England, Australia or India."
African News Agency