We are ready for the challenge

This was not supposed to be a knockout tournament, but our loss to West Indies the other night has made both games, against England tomorrow and against India later, do-or-die affairs for us.

It's a big challenge, and since we have not won this tournament so far, we are committed to win both these big games.

It rained a bit in Jaipur yesterday, and drizzled yesterday. Coach John Buchanan and I plan to take a walk about the Sawai Man Singh Stadium at night to make an assessment of the dew situation.

Either way, we have been practising with a wet ball for the last couple of days.

We did this when we played the TVS Cup in India in 2003, and it really worked well for us. All our spinners in particular have been following this drill, and hopefully it will help them, should we need to bowl second tomorrow.

England has under-achieved a bit in the one-day version of the game, but they really played well against us in the one-day series in England last year.

Good attack

Not having the bowling of Andrew Flintoff will affect their attack, but they still have a good attack, and we will have quite a challenge today.

An England-Australia game always has an edge to it, and considering the situation in the Champions Trophy there will be a lot of desperation from both sides.

Our opening game did not go according to script. It was not as though we did a whole lot wrong, but it was just a few errors in judgment and execution that cost us the game. I dropped a very crucial catch, and we gave away 15 runs too many at the end of the West Indies innings.

We also lost a few wickets at the start of our innings, which did not help. After that, I think Adam Gilchrist's run out was the biggest blow to our chances.

Brian Lara had a plan when he held himself back, and once I saw that he did not come in at three, four or five, I knew what his game plan was.

We were ready for it, and did manage to restrict him at the start of the innings he scored only 10 in his first 40-odd deliveries.

A slow scoring rate does get to attacking players like Lara, but full marks to him for sticking it out. The wicket was not as devilish as it had been in the New Zealand-South Africa game, but it was not an easy chase because it got slower as the game progressed. That said, none of the batsmen were really victims of the wickets and we have no complaints on that front.

Of the first four games, there have been at least two results that can be termed as upsets. This has thrown the tournament wide open, and for many teams it's as much a knockout as the earlier editions of this tournament. The pressure is on us, and we are ready for the challenge.