'India at home are a strong proposition'

Abu Dhabi: Paul Collingwood, who is one of the most experienced players in the team, has assessed their opponents India in a Test match under the prevailing situation.

"The situation is not ideal because we are up against a very strong Indian side on a home tour and that is a big proposition. There are no excuses, we have to go out there and make the best use of what we have got," said Collingwood.

However, he feels that his team has a lot of experienced players who can go out and focus on the job.

"Once the Test match starts on Thursday everything else will be put to bed that is what we are trying to do at the moment We need to train and get a back into Test match mode,"

Collingwood also wants his team to prove to be a sporting side. "These kind of situations can really pull teams a lot closer. We want to drive home a good team culture and get everybody together in the plane and hit the India team hard on Thursday," said Collingwood, who has hit six centuries and 11 fifties from his 39 Test matches.