The visitors had a tough outing on Day 1 of the second Test in Johannesburg.
Opting to bat first, the visitors got bowled out for 202 in 63.1 overs, which veteran spinner R Ashwin feels might be enough to make a match on a testing track with India having a potent bowling attack in their arsenal.
While stand-in skipper KL Rahul was the top scorer with 50, Ashwin contributed a crucial 46 towards the end of the innings.
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"(What is a) good total in South Africa has been tricky, especially in the first innings. It's always a good thing to win the toss and bat first and you want to post a good score in excess of maybe 260 or 270 which is around about score,” Ashwin said in a media interaction after the first day’s play.
"South Africa always batted first (in the past) and got in excess of 250 and dominated games. Maybe we are a bit short. But I still think we've got with our entire bowling arsenal available tomorrow. Fingers crossed. We can definitely make something out of this total," he added, hoping Siraj will be fit to bowl on Day 2.
Ashwin also hoped that the pitch would quicken up on the second day.
"I just felt the pitch was a little two paced. Generally Wanderers has the tendency to start a bit slower and start getting quicker. It did quicken up a bit but it just feels a little different to a typical wanderers pitch so we'll have to wait and see how it responds tomorrow."
Ashwin’s knock came at a strike rate of 92 and it was studded with six boundaries.
Commenting on his innings, the off-spinner said: "Look, I think in between somewhere for a couple of years, trying to you know sort of get very technically right or whatever it is to try and build on scores, I think I lost a bit of my flow with respect to getting into good positions at the crease and I've always I knew even before that I've always batted at a good clip.
"So it's not been a conscious effort to go out there and keep playing those shots. If it's there, it's there. For me, I get into positions where I can play some of those shots, which may be some of the other specialist batters might not be able to play but this freedom is what gave me success in the past," he explained.
South Africa were 35/1 at the close of play on Day 1 in Johannesburg, still trailing the tourists by 167 runs.
(With PTI inputs)