It'll be a great challenge to save this Test, says Dravid

“We have got to believe that we can save the Test,” the former skipper said on Friday, which India finished 230 runs behind on the first innings with the Proteas still having eight wickets in hand. “We are way behind in the game and we have to bat well in the second innings. It will be tough but there is a lot of quality in the side and we have shown a lot of fighting spirit in the last two years or so.”

Dravid adopted a philosophical outlook on the change in the nature of the track between spiteful on Thursday and less venomous on Friday.

“That’s the way Test cricket goes,” he reflected. “We knew yesterday that it would only get better on days two and three. We had to get through that period yesterday and unfortunately we didn’t. It will be a great challenge to save this Test from here.”

Refusing to blame his bowlers for a less than impressive performance, Dravid went on, “It is a learning experience for the younger guys. Obviously, we missed Zaheer’s experience but injuries are part and parcel of the game. Perhaps the guys could have bowled a bit fuller, but you can’t really blame them.”

South African opener Alviro Petersen, who made a polished half-century, fired a warning of sorts, saying the track would get quicker from here. “The conditions have changed a bit, and they will continue to change. It will quicken up more, and that’s what we want because that’s our bowling strength.

“It will be really difficult for them to save the game from here. We want to bat on, grind them out and bat them out of the Test match. It was a really good day for us, we backed up yesterday’s effort by playing nicely today. We must respect India, they have played good cricket in the last couple of years but after two days, we have taken control of the game.”

The South Africans appeared to have a definite plan of targeting Harbhajan Singh, India’s spearhead in Zaheer Khan’s absence, by hitting him for four fours and a six in his first three overs. “We didn’t want him to settle,” Petersen revealed. “We decided we would hit the ball if it was in our scoring areas and put him under pressure so that their seamers would have to bowl more overs. But it was not a ploy as such to go after him.”