No favourites, says Gambhir

With the Airtel Series opener turning out to be a close thriller in Rajkot last week, Gautam Gambhir feels England and India start on an equal note.

“I’ve always believed in one thing that there are no favourites when two good teams play against each other,” said Gambhir, coming in for Indian captain M.S. Dhoni, at the media conference here on Monday. “There are no underdogs, there are no favourites… whoever does well on that particular day will end up winning the game.”

The Nehru Stadium oval here has been hit for over 300 by four teams in the past. And it appears good for another one on Tuesday.

“It looks a very good wicket, just like Rajkot but I feel the outfield is not very quick,” said Gambhir.

Meanwhile, the England captain Alastair Cook said that expectations were high after the victory at Rajkot but the team should stay on its feet and focus on the job at hand.

“We played one good game, let’s not get too carried away,” he said. “We enjoyed the other night and won by a fine margin. We’ll have to be like that in the remaining games.