"He batted really well in the first innings but in the second, the situation was different. To play all those strokes that he did on this wicket, I don't think many other batsmen could have managed it. It was a joy to watch him from the non-striker's end." Pujara had just 66 runs from his previous five Test hits, and acknowledged that initially, the nature of the surface didn't make life any easier. "It was a difficult pitch to bat on, it was not easy to rotate strike or time the ball.

Cheteshwar Pujara

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"With my game and the kind of shots I play, I was finding it a little difficult early on but I knew that once I am set, once my body is warmed up, once I find the right pace of the pitch, I can accelerate.

"I changed my point of impact (of meeting the ball) and the intent also changed. Early on, I was trying to hit too hard, and trying to play little late wasn't helping me," Pujara admitted.

"I decided to play a little in front of the pads and meet the ball earlier. Because the pitch was quite slow, especially against the spinners, I had to generate power, so I was playing in front of my pads."

Pujara predicted a difficult time for batsmen on Day Five. "There is enough rough for the spinners and the cracks will open up a bit more," he said.

Brief scores

India 323-4 decl and 502-7 declared (Rohit Sharma 127, Cheteshwar Pujara 81; Keshav Maharaj 2-129) v South Africa 431 (Dean Elgar 160, Quinton de Kock 111; R Ashwin 7-145) and 11-1

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