"All cricketers want to see a good cricket wicket," Smith told a press conference here on Wednesday. "We need one with a good balance between bat and ball. We are obviously looking for a little more help from the pitch," he added.

In the first Test in Chennai, Virender Sehwag had slammed a triple hundred, while Hashim Amla and Neil McKenzie notched up hundreds for South Africa.

Dhiraj Parsana, the curator of the Sardar Patel stadium, has assured of a sporting wicket that will initially favour pace bowlers and later will aid spinners as the match goes on.

Smith endorsed Parsana's point of view. "The wicket does look good and it looks different from the Chennai wicket," he added.

Coach Mickey Arthur had said on Tuesday that they will employ short-pitched balls to curb Sehwag. Smith too stressed on that point. "I think you always assess things as a team. Certainly we have the attack to be able to use that (such a strategy). The pitch will last too we hope," he said.

The South African said his team's confidence is high after negating the Indian spin attack. "Out of the last game, India probably have a few more things to think about than what we do in terms of combination, in terms of the selections of bowlers," Smith said.

"So their challenge is to answer our challenges. We have to make sure we come back down to neutral and keep the good things going," he said.

South Africa had already won series in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and Smith said his side is confident about making a sub-continent treble. "We have some good outings in the sub-continent in the recent past.

“As long as we get our execution right, we can win. At this point of time, we are looking to play with the same members of the first Test," he said.

Smith did not waste a chance to score a psychological point, pinning on India's injury concerns over skipper Anil Kumble. "If you lose Anil, you lose a real competitor, someone who can really change a game and it does make a difference to the game," he said.