Cheteshwar Pujara, who excelled with his batting on Day 4, is hopeful that India can still pull off a victory in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. Pujara asserted that the cracks on the pitch are opening up and there is a variable bounce, the combination of what will make it difficult for the Proteas.

Speaking about the possible nature of the track on day five, Pujara said,

“We knew we would be bowling a few overs today and pick up as many wickets as possible and I think we are really happy with the way things went today. Hopefully, on Day 5 this pitch wouldn’t be easy to bat and there will be a little more assistance for spinners and then we have already seen that the pitch has variable bounce so the fast bowlers will come into play.”

“I think so there is enough rough for spinners and the cracks will open up a bit more on Day 5. The cracks will help the fast bowlers and we have seen that the pitch has got a variable bounce. I don’t think it will bounce that much but there will be more bounce for the spinners on the rough,” he added.

Asked if the timing of the declaration was right, Pujara said, “It was. We did not want to bowl too many overs because we wanted to keep the ball hard for the start of day five. You don’t want to end up bowling too many overs and once the ball gets soft, it gets slightly easier to bat.”

“We picked up a crucial wicket (Dean Elgar). So as a team, we are happy with the way things went today,” said Pujara.

The pace with which Rohit batted, it also helped Pujara to settle down. Talking about Rohit’s batting and his second hundred of the series, Pujara was all praise.

“The way Rohit was batting, I felt we were scoring at a decent pace and I could take some extra time to settle down. He batted really well in the first innings also but in the second innings, the situation was different. (Especially), to play all those strokes that he did on this wicket,” said Pujara.

“Our partnership was crucial. Our communication was good as we batted together since our under-19 days,” he added.