Former Proteas opener Alviro Petersen says South African fans should not write off the team too quickly in the current Test series against India.

The third Test starts on Wednesday in Nagpur with India having a 1-0 lead after the first two games. South Africa’s problems in the series against spin have been well documented, but Petersen says it’s too early to condemn Hashim Amla’s men to failure.

‘We should not jump the gun,’ Petersen told SACricketmag.com. ‘In effect, only one Test has been played since four days were lost to rain in the second match in Bengaluru. You can’t read too much into that second Test.

‘South Africa should still be confident going into the final two games. Preparation will be very important. They must make sure they tick all the boxes because that why you almost take the result out of it. It’s like studying for an exam. You have to trust your preparation.’

Petersen agreed that batting has been South Africa’s biggest issue so far but says that if the Proteas can score 300 or 400 things will automatically look better.

Kagiso Rabada, currently with the Test squad in India, was crowned the Newcomer of the Year at Sunday’s SA Sports Awards.

Rabada, made his debut for the Proteas at the age of 19 last year. His ODI debut followed earlier this year against Bangladesh at Mirpur when his figures of 6-16 were the world’s best ever by a debutant and the best ever for the Proteas, beating Makhaya Ntini’s 6-22 against Australia.

He was also only the second player to take a hat trick on debut and the third Protea to take a hat trick after Charl Langeveldt and JP Duminy.