Cape Town – Proteas paceman Morne Morkel meanwhile feels that endurance will be the key for the home side as they seek twenty wickets against a quality India batting lineup.

Morkel, who starred in the Boxing Day Test against Zimbabwe said, “It’s going to be about that last session in the day when the ball is soft and conditions are tough.

“Majority of the runs in Test cricket are scored after tea time. So for us, it’s going to be if we have enough petrol in the tank to knock India over at the back end of the day.”

The paceman was not one to issue any threats to India and feels it best to focus on doing the basics correctly when they face the number one Test side in January.

Morkel commented: “For me, there is no personal sort of message, for us it’s important not to get involved in those sorts of things.

“If we are strong and we are fit and we get the results in the wickets column, it will make nice reading in the papers. 

“In the past, the build-up has always been great, the talk of the wickets, the talk of the bounce, we do have a slight advantage, but we still need to land the ball in the right areas, still need to bowl with intensity.”

The first Test gets underway on January 5 at Newlands in Cape Town.