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Hussain looking to get
even with India

Faisal Shariff in Colombo

Despite trouncing the Zimbabweans by 108 runs, English skipper Nasser Hussain says India start as favourites in the crucial Champions Trophy tie between the two teams on Sunday, September 22.

Refusing to delve into the match, Hussain said he will not be too worried about the Indians if his team plays like it did against the Zimbabweans.

Replying to queries on the emphatic win over Zimbabwe, the English skipper, who scored a crucial 75, said he is proud that his side did not let the opposition dominate any phase of the match, though he reckoned they were 20 runs short.

"We will have to play the Indian spinners well and get seven wickets instead of five, because Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif are dangerous batsmen coming in at six and seven. The Indian batting just keeps coming at you," he admitted.

Playing down the war of words between the skippers, Hussain said eventually the match would be decided on whether Marcus Trescothick or Sachin Tendulkar get a hundred, or Kaif bats the way he did in the game against Zimbabwe.

Hussain said the Indians are 5-4 up on his team and he would like to even the scoreline in Colombo.

Earlier in the month, he had complained about the scheduling of the Champions Trophy, saying his inexperienced team would have no time to ease into the tournament.

Much of England's fortunes revolve around the performance of opening batsman Trescothick, who scored a belligerent century -- his fourth in the abridged version of the game -- against Zimbabwe in the absence of Michael Vaughan and Andy Flintoff.

Zimbabwe's vanquished skipper Heath Streak joked that the only plan he had for Trescothick was to give him a single and get the other batsman on strike.

"Trescothick is in a rich vein of form and I reckon he is up there with the likes of the Indian opening pair and the Aussie batsmen," he said.

Hussain added that it would be nice to see the Aussies discuss Trescothick in detail for the upcoming Ashes tour after his devastating form in either version of the game.

Trescothick, who was chosen man of the match, said with the summer beating down and the humidity levels high, conditions were tough to bat on but scoring 85 per cent of the balls faced helped compile a huge score on the board.

Refusing to reveal any special plan for the Indians, which he said would stay confined to the team meetings, he appeared unperturbed by the absence of Vaughan and Flintoff and said the English team has good replacements in place.

Heath Streak predicted an evenly contested game between India and England, with the opening partnership playing the determining factor.