Having scored a career-best 163 in his new role as an opener, South Africa's Andrew Hall said his job is only "half-done" since he is keen to contribute with the ball as well in the first cricket Test against India at Kanpur.
"I am very happy to have scored a century as an opener, I see it as an achievement. But my job is half done as I want to make a contribution with the ball as well," Hall said after the second day's play on Sunday which saw the visitors piling up 459 for seven.
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"In the past, I had been guilty of throwing away my wickets. The conditions were difficult to score as the ball was not really coming onto the bat, but I decided to occupy the crease for as long as possible," he said.
Asked how he motivated himself to play such a patient innings, Hall said: "it is a question of the mindset. I kept telling myself that my role was to stay at the wicket. It was self-motivation."
Hall said he had received a lot of support from his seniors, particularly Jacques Kallis, and their encouragement inspired him to perform.
"I have really worked hard for this tour and the support of the seniors have been of real help. It was difficult initially to play on this pitch, but once you got used to it, things became easier."
Asked whether the South Africans are playing for a draw by batting so slowly, Hall said: "nobody plays for a draw. Our focus is to win the match".
Hall also singled out debutant Zander de Bruyn for special praise saying he showed tremendous discipline and maturity to score a solid 83 in his maiden Test.
"I have played with Zander since my school days, we have played together for 15 years. He is a good friend and I feel happy for him. He is a tough guy and he showed a lot of patience and maturity. It's great to have the partnership with him."
Hall said he was told on Thursday, two days before the start of the Test, that he would open the innings and he had prepared mentally to do the job.
"I had visualised myself as an opener and was determined to do well. Hopefully, I can get some more big knocks in the series. I had played my last Test in January so I wanted to make it count here. I didn't want to put myself under pressure by negative thoughts".
