Having lost the opening Test against England in Hyderabad, Team India are trailing 0-1 in the five-match series against England.
The hosts will be desperately looking for a victory in the second Test, slated to get underway on February 2 in Visakhapatnam.
India will be missing the services of Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul in the second Test due to injuries. They are already without star batter Virat Kohli, who has opted out of the first two Tests due to personal reasons.
On the eve of the Visakhapatnam Test, Indian wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat addressed a press conference, where he said that there was no fear in the injured Indian camp.
Bharat also added that the home side has created new strategies to combat England's attacking strategy, which includes the use of sweeps, reverse sweeps and switch hits.
England batter Ollie Pope employed those adventurous strokes to good effect en route to his incredible 196 in the Hyderabad Test.
"They really played very well. Credit to them. Ollie Pope really played good shots," Bharat said in the pre-match presser.
"In our team meetings we spoke about the things we could have done better and yes, we certainly have few plans. (We are) definitely looking at the way how they went about the first game, playing some reverse. That's something we have definitely worked on," he added.
Most of the Indian batters don’t play sweep shots too often but were seen practicing that stroke in the two training sessions before the second Test.
"Playing in India, we play a lot of cricket on these tracks. It's not that we don't know how to sweep, reverse sweep or paddle, but on that particular day depending on the situation of the team, we as batters take our calls," Bharat said.
"And it is very clear to us to bat with freedom. We also practised in the reverse before the first game. But playing out in the centre, it's the batters' individual plan. If the team demands us to play in a certain way, then we are up to it," he remarked.
Debutant Tom Hartley starred with the ball for England in the Hyderabad Test. The left-arm spinner ran through the Indian batting line-up in the second innings, returning with a seven-wicket haul (7/62).
Defending the Indian batters, Bharat said: "We don't play the bowlers, we play the ball. On any given day, it can be experienced or inexperienced (bowler), there is nothing like inexperienced in cricket. On that particular day, if someone bowls well, you have to give credit to them.”
"After the game, the atmosphere is absolutely relaxed. They told us not to panic, which we are not. But then the instruction is very clear, it's a long Test series and we have played a lot of series like this in the past," he further stated.
(With PTI Inputs)
