Mumbai: Hours before embarking on a gruelling tour of South Africa, Indian captain Rahul Dravid advised his teammates 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 told a pre-departure press conference here today.

The team will leave tonight 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".

The Karnataka batsman said the absence of Yuvraj Singh, who has been ruled out of the tour because of a knee ligament injury, will be missed but it would give an opportunity to some other player to prove his worth.