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Chennai: Hoping to extract turn on an otherwise flat track, England skipper Kevin Pietersen today said the visitors would go into the first cricket Test against India with a two-pronged spin attack comprising Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann.
England have decided to go with Matt Prior as wicketkeeper instead of Test regular Tim Ambrose despite his lackluster show in the one-day series. Pietersen said he had full faith in the embattled stumpers ability to bounce back.
Pietersen said in the Indian team, Yuvraj Singh would be under pressure in his comeback Test match. "There will be lot of pressure on Yuvraj Singh. We have seen him in one dayers. It is interesting to see how he is going to play short balls," he said. he refused to call out-of-form Rahul Dravid a weak link in the Indian team.
India on offer is a chance to move back to No.2 in the ICC's Test rankings, a position India briefly enjoyed after the 2-0 home series victory against Australia. Even a 1-0 series win will suffice for India, currently at third.
Last series have played in England, India won by 1-0 under Rahul Dravid captaincy.
| India | England | |
| Coach | Gary Kirstan | Peter Moores |
| ICC Ranking | 3 | 5 |
| Key Players | Sehwag, Sachin, Ishant, Harbhajan | Flintoff, Pietersen, Cook, Monty Panesar |
| Drawing Broad | Gambhir returns after a one-Test ban to accompany a red-hot Sehwag at the top. Yuvraj will slip into Ganguly's spot in the middle order. Apart from that India's team will be the same from the one that beat Australia by 172 runs in Nagpur exactly a month ago. | Anderson, England's second-highest wicket-taker this year, has already made a mark in India, capturing six wickets at 13.16 in one Test. Anderson has particularly troubled Tendulkar, having dismissed him on four occasions at an average of 19.50. |
| Weather | Chance of a Thunderstorm. Scattered Clouds. High: 86° F. / 30° C. Wind NNE 8 mph. / 14 km/h. Chance of rain 50% in all five days. | |
| Pitch | This is perfect batting track. Sehwag always enjoy this ground, in last match against South Africa he made career best 319. From forth days pitch will be helps spinners and difficult batting in last innings against Harbhajan and Panesar. | |
| Current Form | LDWDW | WDLLW |
| ODDS | India 1/2, England 5/4, Drawn 1/2 | |
| Head to head | Total 97, India 18, England 34, Drawn 45 | |
