Ganguly calls for Champions effort

Captain Sourav Ganguly said his side's batting had to improve if they were to make a mark in the forthcoming Champions Trophy.

India captain Sourav Ganguly said his side's batting had to improve if they were to make a mark in the forthcoming Champions Trophy tournament in England.

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India, who have already lost master batsman Sachin Tendulkar for the 'mini World Cup' because of a left elbow injury, enjoyed a morale-boosting 23-run win against England at Lord's on Sunday.

But India still lost the three-game warm-up series 2-1 after two crushing defeats by seven-wickets and 70 runs respectively.

And this win, minus the sidelined Tendulkar, was only achieved following a fine bowling effort after India were dismissed for a modest 204.

Man-of-the-match Ganguly, who top-scored with 90, and Rahul Dravid (52) were the only batsmen in a powerful-looking order to pass 14.

Afterwards Ganguly stressed there was plenty still to come from India, last year's losing World Cup finalists and co-holders of the Champions Trophy following a washed-out 2002 final against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

"I still think we are some distance away from our best," Ganguly told reporters. "We are a better batting unit than this and we all need to fire if we hope to do well in the Champions Trophy."

However, he insisted he had not lost faith in his batsmen's capabilities.

"These are the guys have performed consistently over the last two years and I back them to do well. They cannot fail for so long."

The left-hander insisted English conditions required his batsmen to adopt a different strategy.

"You've just got to change your approach to the game when you play one-day cricket in England.

"It's not like the first 15 overs in the sub-continent. You've got to take your time and settle down.

"Once the ball gets old there's plenty on offer because the outfield is still quick and the wicket gets better.

"It's different in England and we'll have to get used to that in terms of our mindset."

However, Ganguly's concern for India's batting was balanced by his praise for their bowling.

Left-arm quicks Irfan Pathan and Ashish Nehra reduced England to 29 for four inside nine overs before off-spinner Harbhajan Singh took three for 28.

"We took wickets consistently, England never got going. I thought the bowlers bowled superbly in the first 10 overs.

"What was best about this game was the body language, the attitude on the field even after being out for 204," added Ganguly after India were roared on by the bulk of a 28,500 capacity crowd.

England were without Andrew Flintoff, who was with his pregnant girlfriend after she was taken to hospital.

Ganguly, a former Lancashire team-mate of the star all-rounder added: "England are a different side without Andrew Flintoff. On the field, he's a huge, huge plus to English cricket."

But England captain Michael Vaughan, whose 74 almost rallied his team from the depths of 62 for six to an improbable win, was happy with the side's overall performance after they failed to make the triangular final earlier in the season.

"We are delighted to have won the trophy against a very good Indian team. If you look back at the three games, we've probably just had 15 bad overs when they hit us with the new ball today (Saturday).

"That's not a bad effort," added Vaughan, whose team face Zimbabwe at Edgbaston on Friday.

India's win was their second straight one-day victory against England at Lord's after their dramatic two-wicket success in the 2002 triangular final.

Not that Ganguly was getting carried away. "I don't know about two wins in a row at Lord's but after four losses it feels good to win today."