England captain Andrew Strauss has said his team's big World Cup clash against India on Sunday will be more than just a duel between key off-spinners Harbhajan Singh and Graeme Swann.
England's Swann put in a disciplined 2-35 effort in his team's below-par performance against the Netherlands, who posted 292-6. Harbhajan has been serving his team well since making his one-day debut in 1998, having bagged 247 wickets in 218 matches.
"It's always easy to make these mini-battles in a game. But the side that wins is probably the one that has the majority of the players doing well, rather than just one or two," said Strauss.
"If it (the pitch) does turn, India have got a few spinners that are going to come into the game and we've got a couple ourselves. It's as much about the batsmen playing them well as them bowling well."
The England skipper said his team had the batting resources to counter the Indian spin if the pitch helped slow men. "If it's turning the spinners will come into the game and it's important you find ways of rotating the strike and putting them under pressure," said Strauss.
"That's something we're prepared for and I think our play against spin has improved a lot over the last couple of years."
Strauss said his team could name a second specialist spinner. "It (two spinners) is definitely an option. If it's going to turn like it did in that Australia warm-up game (against India at the same venue), two spinners are going to be a very strong option for us," he said.
"But it's important not to be too blinkered into assuming it's going to do something. You've got to look at conditions."
Both teams won their opening matches, with India beating Bangladesh by 87 runs in Dhaka and England prevailing over the Netherlands by six wickets in Nagpur.
