The last time India played a Test at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Nagpur, against Australia in 2004, they ended up on the losing side, and the bouncy pitch was blamed for the debacle.

This time, however, curator Kishore Pradhan is confident that the pitch will assist the home team more than the visitors.

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"It is a different wicket than against Australia. It is a true wicket, it will offer good pace and bounce for two days, and then the spinners will get help, while batsmen will also enjoy," Pradhan said on Monday.

He further added that India coach Greg Chappell [Images] and captain Rahul Dravid [Images] had inspected the wicket and were happy with it.

"It is a result-oriented wicket in favour of India," he stressed.

Asked to compare the wicket with the one for the Test against Australia, he said, "It was more pacy," but refused to elaborate, adding "I won't answer any more controversial questions.

"All I want to say that this is a balanced wicket."

However, indications are that the wicket will offer assistance to the spinners quite early on. In fact, there are doubts about the match lasting five days.

Perhaps, England [Images] captain Andrew Flintoff's [Images] impression, after he had a look at the 22-yard strip, best sums it up.

"I had a brief look at the wicket today. It is quite dry, not much grass. It is something that we expected before coming here."

Pradhan said he cannot predict how long the match will last.

"I am not God to predict."