Wait! Wait! Wait! Pujara comes close to Indian record for balls faced without a run in Johannesburg

Indian batsman was in a resilient frame of mind on the first morning of the third Test against Johannesburg

^{India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara}

Cheteshwar Pujara clipped the ball into the legside and scampered off for a single, as the crowd at the Wanderers let out an ironic cheer.

When he reached the other end, the India batsman turned and smiled at the visitors' dressing room, who were almost on their feet in appreciation.

Fully 81 minutes after walking to the crease at No 3 on the first morning of the third Test against South Africa in Johannesburg, Pujara had found a way to get off the mark.

He stopped short of raising his bat but the moment was not lost on Pujara, who had faced 54 balls before guiding Lungi Ngidi to fine leg.

Arriving at the wicket with his side seven for one following the early dismissal of KL Rahul, Pujara showed composure and self-discipline, refusing to be dragged into a false shot.

With Murali Vijar also back in the pavilion for a low score, Pujara and his captain Virat Kohli had a rebuilding job to do and all the time in the world to do it.

Pujara made the most of the opportunity.

^{Pujara and Virat Kohli rebuilt India's innings at the Wanderers}

From his 45th ball, he thought he had moved off zero, only for a leg-bye call to keep him waiting. When he reached his half-century - of balls faced, of course - he received gentle applause from the stands.

In the end he got off the mark three minutes shy of the Indian record - the 84 it took Rajesh Chauhan against Sri Lanka in 1994 - and eight balls fewer than the 62 required by Stuart Broad to get his first run in an innings against New Zealand in Auckland in 2013, which is the longest vigil before scoring a run of any Test since 2001.

Up in the visitors' dressing room, coach Ravi Shastri will have understood Pujara's emotions.

Back in 1992, in the same city, Shastri took 89 minutes to move off nine - the longest spell without a run in any Indian innings. Ever.

Still, Pujara's knock had its purpose and by lunch he and Kohli had moved India on to 45 for two.

South Africa might have been widly miserly - Vernon Philander's first spell of 8-7-1-1 was the most economical South African opening eight-over salvo since readmission - but ultimately they had been frustrated.

Job done.