NOTTINGHAM, England, July 28, (Agencies): England paceman Chris Tremlett is a fitness doubt for the second Test which starts on Friday while opponents India will be without their number one swing bowler Zaheer Khan.
Zaheer sustained a hamstring injury on the first day of his team’s first-Test defeat at Lord’s and India are hoping he will be fit to return for the third game in the four-match series in Birmingham next month.
Tremlett bowled briefly in practice on Thursday morning before pulling out of the session with a hamstring problem. He then managed a handful of deliveries off one stride on his return before leaving again.
“He has this hamstring niggle,” England captain Andrew Strauss told reporters at Trent Bridge.

“We are very confident he will be fine but because there is such a short turnaround in between the two Test matches we might have to wait until tomorrow morning until we are 100 percent sure one way or another.”
All-rounder Tim Bresnan, left out for the first test, is standing by to replace Tremlett.
“Tim Bresnan certainly has not let anyone down when he’s played for us,” Strauss said.
“He was outstanding in Australia in the winter and I think he is getting better and better so in many ways he is unfortunate not to be playing at the moment.”
The underlying prize from the Test series is the battle for number one status in the world rankings.
Number three England need to win by at least two tests to leapfrog South Africa and topple top-ranked India.

“The number one situation is very secondary to us winning the series,” Strauss said. “Having gone 1-0 up, if we can make it 2-0 here obviously we will be in a brilliant position.”
India are likely to replace left-armer Zaheer with Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
Meanwhile, England coach Andy Flower believes controversy is just around the corner in the high-profile Test series against India because of the tourists’ refusal to adopt the Decision Review System.
England beat India by 196 runs at Lord’s to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series, but there is growing concern within the home camp that the lack of DRS could lead to frayed tempers in the remaining tests. Though it has recently softened its stance on other aspects of the system, India remains firmly opposed to the ball-tracking used by DRS as it believes the technology is not foolproof.
Umpire Billy Bowden turned down Stuart Broad’s lbw appeals against Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina at Lord’s, though replays indicated the decisions were incorrect.

It didn’t affect the outcome, but Flower says the situation is “unsatisfactory” and is predicting trouble in future matches, beginning with the second Test at Trent Bridge starting Friday.
“It would have been wrong if the outcome of the game had been seriously affected by a couple of those decisions,” he said. “It’s unsatisfactory the way it is, there is no doubt about that.”
Broad may have been denied those two wickets but the paceman did claim seven other scalps over the two innings, returning to form after a disappointing series against Sri Lanka earlier this summer.
Bowling a fuller length, Broad finished with test-best match figures of 7-94 and with James Anderson, Chris Tremlett and offspinner Graeme Swann also playing their parts in a decisive victory, England’s attack looks better equipped than India’s to take 20 wickets in a match.
India’s hopes of leveling the series at Trent Bridge could hinge on whether left-armer seamer Zaheer Khan is declared fit after a hamstring injury, which prevented him from bowling in England’s second innings.

Khan, the leader of the tourists’ attack, will undergo a fitness Test on Thursday evening.
“He’s been our strike bowler for a long time,” opening batsman Abhinav Mukund said. “But Ishant (Sharma) has been doing really well - he was the man of the series in the West Indies - and Praveen Kumar has taken five wickets (at Lord’s). Sreesanth is waiting in the wings as well, so it’s not that we have a depleted attack.”

Squad
England: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Chris Tremlett or Tim Bresnan.

India (probable): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Abhinav Mukund, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.