JOIN USCheteshwar Pujara, one of the two half-centurions in India's innings of 187 all out, termed the Wanderers pitch as one of the toughest he has played on.
"Talking about the pitch, this is one of the toughest pitches I've played on," he pointed out.
"And as we saw, it was difficult to score some runs, especially in the first session. It was difficult to rotate the strike. It has a lot of bounce, it has seam movement.
"And there is enough pace now. So, we had to work hard to score runs, but the total we have I think it is as good as scoring 300 on any wicket. We got a wicket, and if we bowl well, I think we'll get them out. I would say it was a good day for us," he offered.
Pujara went 53 balls without opening his account and the right-hander admitted that he was under pressure to get off the mark. He was also under fire for getting run-out in both the innings of the second Test at Centurion.
"After a point obviously yes I wanted to get off the mark," he noted. "But as you saw, it was a bit difficult to rotate the strike.
"But as I said this is one of the toughest pitches I have played on, so you need to take your time and you need to get used to the bounce and lateral movement.
"So it was difficult for me early on but as I batted more it became easier for me."
When Pujara eventually got off the mark, he received a huge applause from the crowd, which had also cheered him when he reached 50 balls without scoring a run.
"Yes you do notice it, because there was a lot of noise from the crowd (laughs)," he said when asked if he noticed the crowd's behaviour. "I wasn't seeing the number of balls I was facing, but yeah, sometimes when there is a lot of noise you do notice it. Even if you are concentrating, sometimes you hear a voice from the crowd."