Nottingham, July 28 : Stunned by the humiliating defeat at the Lord's, India will have to quickly get their act together as they go into the second cricket Test against England here tomorrow with a serious threat to their status as the number one team.
The demoralised Indians, who lost the first Test by a resounding 196 runs, will have to pull up their socks if they hope to prevent the hosts from dislodging them from the top position.
But the injury to pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who may not be fit enough to take the field on the morrow, and the poor form of Harbhajan Singh have handicapped the bowling to a great extent while the form of some of their top order batsmen have compounded their misery.
In case Zaheer sits out, either S Sreesanth or Munaf Patel will make it to the team with the Indians preferring to go into the crucial game with three pacers and a spinner on a Trent Bridge track which was expected to help the quick bowlers.
While India would be desperate to do whatever it takes to hold on to their numero uno Test status, a series win by a two game margin will see England topple Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men from the pinnacle.
The visitors, however, can take heart from the fact that they lost the first Test in five of their seven tours (excluding Bangladesh) in last four years, and yet recovered to avoid a series loss with the exception of once in Sri Lanka in 2008.India came back from behind in Sri Lanka last year, and then against Australia at home and against South Africa, both at home and away. In Durban late last year, India bounced back in style after suffering a heavy defeat against the Proteas at Centurion. PTI
