Graeme Smith Smith says Proteas can regain world No 1 spot

Graeme Smith has been quick to put India under pressure ahead of the Test series, which starts on Saturday in Nagpur.

The South African cricket captain said beating India on their home pitches was always difficult.

"In my nine years of international cricket, I have always found India to be a very formidable opponent. So they will definitely start as favourites here," he said.

"But we have also done well in the past in the subcontinent and would try to play better cricket and beat them.

"We have been doing well in the past two years and we hope to bring that confidence in this series. India are currently the No1 Test team but we hope to take away that status from them in this series," he said ahead of a two-day warm-up match, starting in Nagpur today.

The Proteas take on the Indian Board President's XI in a two-day match in Nagpur before the first Test begins at the new Vidarbha Cricket Association ground on the outskirts of the city on Saturday.

The two-Test series - the second match will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata from February 14 - could be one of the most important the Proteas have played in recent years.

Second-ranked South Africa need a 2-0 series win to displace India from the top. A 1-0 result in favour of the tourists will leave both teams level on 123 rating points.