India under pressure to stretch lead

AHMADABAD, India (AP) -- Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly said Monday his team was under tremendous pressure from fans to maintain the tempo after scoring an imposing 10-wicket victory in last week's series opener, while England's captain Nasser Hussain sought commitment from his players to stay alive in the three-test series.

"There's tremendous pressure on us to beat England after losing the rubber in South Africa," Ganguly said in the western Indian city of Ahmadabad, venue for the second test on Dec. 11-15.

"There's absolutely no room for complacency as England has the potential to bounce back if given a leeway ... We should win if we play to our potential," Ganguly said, adding that the fans were "looking for a 3-0 series victory."

English captain Hussain said his batsmen needed to come to terms with India's formidable spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh -- who ran through England's batting in the first test in Mohali -- if they aspired to stay in contention.

"It's the batting that faltered. We've got to come to terms with these two spinners ... They're very, very formidable in their backyard," Hussain said.

"The top-order batsmen need to stay out there. We have to apply ourselves and adapt to the wickets in these parts of the world, which are very slow," he said.

England's coach Duncan Fletcher warned those wanting to write off his team.

"The feeling in the team's no different than the tour of Sri Lanka where we lost the first test but bounced back to clinch the series," Fletcher said. "I'm hoping the boys can do that again."

Fletcher said two-pronged Indian spin attack was more potent than what they had encountered in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, where Hussain's team clinched rubber on successive visits to the subcontinent.

"Here the spinners come to you from both ends ... That makes India's attack more potent," Fletcher said.

He said the English players spent considerable time watching the Indian spinners on video and working out the batting technique in the nets.

"We've had a good look but can't make drastic changes in technique suddenly at this level," he said.

Spin played a major role in India's 3-0 sweep of the 1993 series when England last toured this country. India's traditional strength in spin also gave fashioned its 1-0 win in Mohali last week.

England was considering including two spinners in the side after left-arm tweaker Ashley Giles reported fit from the heel injury that sidelined him from the first test.

"Ashley's very upbeat ... We're hoping to play him on Tuesday," Fletcher said.

Giles is expected to replace seamer James Ormond in the playing eleven, which Fletcher said would be decided after a team meeting late Monday night.

India on Monday named the playing eleven for Tuesday's start, bringing in batsman Virender Sehwag and pace spearhead Javagal Srinath to replace injured all-rounder Sanjay Bangar and seamer Iqbal Siddiqui in the team that won the first test.

Sehwag, who scored a century on debut during the recent series against South Africa, returns to test cricket after serving his one-test ban in the series opener in Mohali, which became a bone of contention between the Indian board and the International Cricket Council.

Srinath comes back after missing the first test due to a fractured left hand.

Teams:

India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Shiv Sundar Das, Deep Dasgupta, Vangipurappu Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath and Tinu Yohannan. Twelfth man: Connor Williams.

England (from): Nasser Hussain (captain), Mark Butcher, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Ramprakash, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Craig White, James Foster, Richard Dawson, Matthew Hoggard, James Ormond, Michael Vaughan, Richard Johnson, Martyn Ball, Usman Afzaal, Ashley Giles and Warren Hegg.

Umpires: Ian Robinson (Zimbabwe) and A.V.Jayaprakash (India). Third umpire: Jasbir Singh (India).

ICC match referee: Denis Lindsay (South Africa).

Related information
Stories
Volatile spinner told to keep the peace Zimbabwe beats West Indies by four wickets
Multimedia
Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.