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Johannesburg - Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis believes that March's Test series against Australia will be decided by the fast bowlers.
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The focus is still very much on India and winning the ongoing series 3-0, but it is hard not to look ahead to four Tests against the Aussies.
Australia were far too good for England in the Ashes, while South Africa have secured a series win against the No 1 ranked side in the world.
It all points towards a blockbuster series between the Aussies and the Proteas.
Du Plessis, speaking at the Wanderers on Tuesday, believes that the series against Australia will be decided by the quicks.
The Proteas boast the likes of Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel and Lungi Ngidi while Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood lead the Australian attack.
When one factors in the nature of South Africa's wickets, then it is easy to see where Du Plessis is coming from.
"That’s going to be what that Test series is all about," he said.
"You’re going to have two fantastic bowling attacks smashing it out and batters just trying to survive, I suppose.
"Australia’s bowling is definitely their strength.
"Obviously they’ve got a few world class batsmen but there are a few gaps in their batting line-up where you can get stuck into them … not too dissimilar to the Indian team right now."
Du Plessis added that victory in the third Test against India would give his side the perfect platform heading into the Australian challenge.
“When playing against India you don’t get the opportunity often where you can beat them 3-0,": he said.
"Consistency is something that you want to have as much as possible and heading into that Australian series we want to have that momentum that we have gathered over the last few games.
"Australia has been playing some really good cricket so by no means are we thinking that this (the third Test) is an opportunity to take our foot off the gas."
The Australia Test series starts in Durban on March 1 before heading to Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Johannesburg.
