South African skipper Faf du Plessis has said that the 2015 series loss in India on raging turners motivated their team to win the series here in Centurion, on a pitch that "should have suited the visitors more".
The hosts won the second Test by 135 runs on day five and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
"It was tough for us in India (in 2015). Personally and as a team we struggled there, and mentally it took a toll on us, even after that series. So the guys were extremely motivated for this series to put that right," said du Plessis in the post-match press conference.
"I think you could see that in this Test especially. In conditions that should suit them more than us, we adapted really well and we fought every hour to get ahead in the game. It is very pleasing sitting here 2-0 up," said du Plessis on Wednesday.
"The previous game we spoke about how Newlands was almost on fast forward mode, so it was an exciting game and this was completely the opposite. It needed a lot of grinding, a lot of hard work and a lot of pushing ourselves for longer and longer and that for me makes this Test match incredibly special.
"The previous one was more of a sense of excitement and the best one to watch but I take a lot of pleasure out of winning games like this, where the team needs a lot of heart and a lot of character and a lot of fight to make sure we get across the line. The conditions weren't the conditions we would have liked, but the conditions were there and we still need to win. And I thought we did brilliantly. There were times when India put us under pressure and every single time we responded by huge character so yes, extremely special this Test match," he added.
The Proteas' skipper expressed concern about the pitch and compared it to the raging turners in the 2015 series.
"I was very concerned when I got here, leading up to the Test match. It looked not like a Centurion wicket that I know. That is a concern, to be honest. I believe this was an opportunity that we missed. We can blame the groundsman but we also have to blame ourselves. We made a process where we make sure Cricket South Africa has someone that looks after the groundsman to get the right kind of pitches when we play against teams. That's something I will be taking up and making sure we can improve," du Plessis said.
"Our win-rate away from home is the best in the world so we have played some really good cricket. The last time we went to India we didn't play as well, but I do feel the conditions were touching on extreme.”