Durban: These are not easy times for Graeme Smith. The skipper faces searching questions on personal form. His team is a Test away from an embarrassing series defeat.

The skipper was, predictably, swamped with questions before South Africa's practice session at Kingsmead on Saturday. He sent out a message that read: "We are still confident."

"Without taking any credit away from India, we played poorly at the Wanderers. We have been through such situations before. One bad defeat does not make you a bad team," Smith said.

Smith admitted that there could be changes in the South African top six. About Abraham de Villiers taking the out-of-form Herschelle Gibbs's spot as an opener, the skipper said, "that's a batting re-shuffle, we would consider."

On the pitch at Durban, he said, "It is a good wicket, a solid track. There will be bounce, but it should be consistent. Anything below 300 may not be a comfortable score for the batting side. The Wanderers pitch played up and down and had bounce."

He spoke about trying to take the pressure off, relaxing mentally, even while attempting a few technical changes in his batting. Importantly, Smith said his pacemen should bowl with greater precision. "They all have the ability. They just have to bowl in the right areas."

In the unlikely event of a spinner being picked, he said left-armer Paul Harris would be the first choice.

Match drawn

The Indians, meanwhile, drew their friendly game against Kwazula Natal invitational XI at the Northwood Crusaders ground.

Importantly for India, Munaf Patel showed he had recovered well from an ankle strain. The lanky paceman struck with his first delivery, and bowled a tidy four-over first spell, without stretching himself. He struck in his second spell too. His display prompted the Indian selection panel chief, Dilip Vengsarkar, to say, "Munaf bowled reasonably well. He will definitely be considered for the second Test."

Vengsarkar added that the left-handed opener, Gautam Gambhir, who impressed in the first innings here, was also in contention.

There were some happy moments for the Kwazulu Natal team, with Rivash Gobind (88, 128b, 6x4, 1x6) and Morne van Vuura (50, 53b, 4x4, 3x6) sparkling on a slow wicket where stroke-making was never easy.

The scores: Indians 271 for six decl. drew with Kwazulu Natal Invitational XI 243 for eight (Rivash Gobind 88, Morne van Vuura 50, Harbhajan Singh three for 26).

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