Ganguly Doubtful for Second Test

Sourav Ganguly has given India an injury scare ahead of Friday's second Test with England at Trent Bridge. Clearly hampered by a back problem during the second innings of the first Test at Lord's, Ganguly was unable to take part today in the Indian net practice which was moved to the National Academy at Loughborough because of persistent rain at Nottingham.

"Sourav has a slight lower back strain," confirmed an Indian team spokesman. If he is ruled out then Yuvraj Singh is likely to step in, and Singh is confident his country will make the most of their fortunate escape in the first Test.

"The mood has been good," he said. "Obviously we are disappointed that we didn't get many runs on the board at Lord's but a draw is a draw. The bowling has been good generally but in terms of the batting we need to put together some big partnerships and we are looking forward to doing so. In fairness, the Lord's wicket was strange. On the first day it was quite a good pitch to bat on but after the rain it suddenly changed.

"We have played over here before in England and know things like that can happen. We are well prepared. All our batters are geared up and we know that we need to get a big score on the board."

Singh, who is set to play his first Test in England if Ganguly is ruled out, believes India can take heart from the mountains of runs they scored on their last visit to this country in 2002 for a Test series after a poor start. On that occasion the so-called 'fab four' of Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar managed just 259 runs behind them during the first Test at Lord's.

But in the remaining three Tests of the series the quartet amassed 1,294 runs with five centuries and five fifties. "The last time we toured here all our batsmen got big runs," said Yuvraj. "We know what to do. We are prepared. We just need to go out and perform. Be assured that no one takes their game lightly whether it is a junior or senior player. This is a fresh start. The first Test match is already gone. It is a new day and a new Test and anything can happen. We are looking forward to it, looking to get runs on the board and looking to take some early wickets.

"We believe if we have good partnerships from the top four then we can go on a run chase. But if we lose early wickets then we will settle for a draw. That's how the other teams approach things."