We wanted them to grovel: Proteas coach Conrad

Grovel. That's the word South Africa coach Shukri Conrad chose to use when asked why they had delayed the declaration against India on the fourth day of the second Test here. It probably wasn't done in bad faith, as Conrad mentioned he was "stealing a phrase" from the interview of England captain Tony Greig before the 1976 home series against Clive Lloyd's West Indies that fired up the visitors to a 3-0 win. But it definitely could have been avoided.

- Somshuvra Laha

That phrase lives in infamy because of its racial tone, spurring the West Indies fast bowlers to ensure Greig had to pay for it every innings he came out to bat, making that series one of the most tense in the history of the game.

This rivalry doesn't have that kind of premise, but the failure to win in India for the last 25 years has driven this South Africa team to push themselves. Already 1-0 up, South Africa were understandably keen on outbatting India.

"We wanted them to really grovel, to steal a phrase, bat them completely out of the game and then say to them well come and survive on the last day and an hour this evening," said Conrad.

Also central to this plan was the interesting ploy of exploiting the extending shadows cast by the stadium in the last hour of play.