South Africa have not won a Test match in India for 15 years, but there is a "real hunger and desire" to put an end to it in the upcoming series, said spinner Keshav Maharaj while describing the India tour as one of their toughest.
India and South Africa will face each other in a two-match Test series from November 14 with the matches scheduled in Kolkata and Guwahati.
Acknowledging the magnitude of the challenge ahead of South Africa, Maharaj said during an online interaction, "There's a real hunger and desire within the camp to beat India in India. It's probably one of the toughest tours, if not the toughest in the Proteas calendar. We feel like it's one of our biggest tests. I feel like this is one assignment that we really, really want to take"
Despite being one of the most consistent sides in Test cricket in recent years, South Africa drew a blank in both of their last two series in India, in 2015 and 2019. Maharaj also believed that the curators are unlikely to provide spin-friendly pitches in the series, unlike in Pakistan recently when their spinners ruled the roost to help South Africa level the rubber after losing the first game.
"I don't think it will be as spin-friendly as we experienced in Pakistan. I think it will be good wickets that will deteriorate as the game goes on. So, probably, more of your traditional Test wickets from what we see," said the left-arm spinner.
"I think if you watched a bit of the West Indies series, they were good wickets that went almost to day four and five. So, I do believe that the sort of narrative is changing in terms of getting wickets. India are a wonderful team and they've come a long way, especially with the transition that they have had. I would think that they want to go with good cricket wickets, just judging from the West Indies series," he said.
In their previous two tours to India, the Proteas saw R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja dictate terms on turning tracks. Maharaj said they would carry a bit of momentum from Pakistan into the rubber against India. "We are carrying a bit of momentum from Pakistan in that second Test, where we showed that regardless of the toss, we're still going to fight and try to force the result in our way. I think there's a real precision about how we've gone about our business throughout this cycle so far, and in the previous cycle," said Maharaj.
Also read: Gill, Sai sweat it out at nets ahead of SA Test
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