South Africa captain Dean Elgar said his squad didn’t give up despite losing the first Test by a big margin. “I think it will sink in in a day or two, maybe this evening. Couldn’t be prouder of the group. The guys responded brilliantly. After the first loss, had a lot of hope knowing we can still win this.

“I asked the players to respond in a better nature, better way and they responded brilliantly. Challenging your players within the group, need characters to stand up.” It was one of the strongest Indian teams on paper against one of the weakest South African teams on paper. However, the operative word here was “on paper” as Elgar’s unheralded bunch showed a lot of character in punching above their weight and also getting heavily rewarded for their relentless efforts.