Hamza: I tend to look at the bright side in most circumstances

Zubayr Hamza will be aiming to look at the bright side of things and focus on the lessons to be learnt after another dominant day for India.

It’s been a tough tour for South Africa but amidst the chaos, there are always positives to take out of any series. Especially when it’s all doom and gloom. The tough players usually stand out.

Hamza playing in only his second Test match for the Proteas and making his first appearance in this series looked composed and incredibly comfortable at the crease.

He looked solid in his defence and great when putting the bad balls away.

“A day of firsts, my first half-century for the national side so pretty happy with that but also disappointed in the same breath not having gone on to make use of that opportunity,” said Hamza.

“It’s the first time I’ve been out on the same day so it’s been a tough day, very disappointing for the side.

“You always want to play. But I knew where I stood as a player in terms of the set up and for me to be honest with myself and realistic. I feel that’s the only way I can progress as soon as possible so I had a feeling I’d sit out the first one.

“Looking at the game, roaring to go for the second, slightly disappointed but that’s only natural.”

South Africa is on the verge of another crushing defeat and managed to survive the day to avoid getting bowled out twice.

“To have almost been bowled out twice in a day, let’s say less than two days of batting, that’s pretty poor on our side,” continued Hamza.

“It’s been tough, I think we’ve struggled to build partnerships and in our defences. Their bowlers were relentlessly and disciplined and they’ve bowled pretty attacking lines and we haven’t been good enough to keep the good balls out.”

Indian pacers have taken all the shine on this tour, and deservedly so. They’ve been consistent, accurate and they stuck to their plans well.

Going to the subcontinent, teams normally are wary about the spinners because of the favourable conditions and although they’ve been good, it’s the fast bowlers who deserve the accolades

“Not for one second did we underestimate the Indian seamers. We just weren’t good enough in our defensive work against them”, he said.

“They’ve bowled pretty good line and lengths. They were relentless and disciplined and all credit to them they’ve beaten us in terms of batters vs bowlers, you could say.

“With the new (ball), they forced us to play at more balls, their attacking lines didn’t allow us to leave the ball many times.

“Based on just the general thought of playing in India you would assume that it would be tougher to play against the spinners, but we knew you obviously first have to get through their quicks who were extremely disciplined.

“I wouldn’t say we underprepared against the seamers. I would say, perhaps we should’ve prepared more mentally to face them in whatever conditions we were faced with.”