"I personally judge if someone comes down the wicket and hits you, it's not a bad ball." © AFP

Keshav Maharaj had bowled 55 overs before India declared their first innings at 502 for 7. He, who should have been sick of the SG ball for not doing his bidding through two bruising days, carried it with him for the press conference in the hope that a few additional minutes with it would help him learn a little bit more about its characteristics.

There have been lessons galore for Maharaj and his fellow spinners - Dane Piedt and Senuran Muthusamy - over the first two days of the Vizag Test. The three spinners conceded 359 runs between them at over four runs an over on what the lead left-arm spinner described as "one of the tougher surfaces" he has had to bowl on.

"You get slow turn but I felt the ball didn't really kick off the wicket," Maharaj said on Thursday (October 3). "However, towards the latter part when the ball did get softer, now and then, the odd one did straighten or a little bit of bite but I think the cracks have been opening up a little bit because of the heat around. So there is a little bit of assistance coming through now as opposed to when we started or say the first day and a half."

Incidentally, Maharaj made his Test debut at the WACA Stadium in Perth, a graveyard of spinners of sorts and came out of the Test match with his reputation enhanced. In Vizag, however, he confronted two openers - Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma - unwilling to let the spinners settle. The pair stitched a 317-run partnership, one that was eventually ended by Maharaj. "Rohit and Mayank played within their zones, they put away the bad balls.

"Whatever they tried to do in terms of putting us under pressure paid off for them. Fair play. Mayank is also very new to international cricket but he just showed the maturity of someone that... it felt like he was a seasoned campaigner and he had a simple game plan and played within his strengths."

Maharaj also defended his fellow spinners, Piedt and Muthusamy, despite their obvious struggle for control (economy 5.63 and 4.20 respectively) over the two days, suggesting that South Africa's toss loss was just as big a factor as the quality of batsmanship.

"I wouldn't say they bowled poorly. They bowled really well. I personally judge if someone comes down the wicket and hits you, it's not a bad ball. If you are getting hit from the crease, if you are getting cut, then it's a different story. Piedt was unlucky," Maharaj said.

"Mayank played superbly well and so did Rohit. Literally everything they wanted to do paid off, it was their day. I wouldn't look too much if they bowled badly or anything. Sen [Muthusamy] is an all-rounder, a batting all-rounder, so his contribution in his first Test went pretty well, especially in the tough conditions.

"I suppose the toss does play a part because you want the best possible conditions to bowl for the spinners but having said that, we could have been a little bit better at times when we did bowl. But I suppose the toss does play a large factor in terms of the outcome of the game. But we still have a task at hand in terms of bat as long as possible and try and come close to the target if possible," he added.