CALCUTTA (Reuters)
England hope to take advantage of India's tendency to fold under pressure during their one-day international series this month, skipper Nasser Hussain has said.

"India gets to a lot of finals and loses. Our strategy is to keep India under pressure," Hussain told a packed news conference after his team's arrival for a six-match series starting in Calcutta on January 19.

"When the pressure is there, India, like England, can also collapse."

Hussain was referring to India's record of nine consecutive defeats in finals of one-day tournaments involving three or more countries, stretching back to 1998.

The England captain said his team would have to perform with the same verve as they showed to sweep a five-match one-day series in Zimbabwe last year to recover from 11 consecutive one-day losses. He expected India to be far superior but said his side can pull off a win if they raise their performances.

"In Zimbabwe we showed the right attitude towards one-day cricket. India is obviously not Zimbabwe, we have to up our game by at least 20 percent if we've got to beat them."

Hussain said India had many options because of some good spinners and all-rounders. He said despite Sourav Ganguly's poor Test batting form, the Indian skipper would still be a threat.

"Sourav is a fine player. I am sure his form will return," he said, adding in a lighter vein: "But I hope it doesn't in the next six matches."

England's bowling attack has been bolstered by the inclusion of their top pace duo Andrew Caddick and Darren Gough, who had both opted out of the Test series. "I am confident about my team. We are looking to learn quickly. Gough and Caddick are back, that is a boon to the side."

Hussain justified the inclusion of 21-year-old wicketkeeper James Foster ahead of veteran Alec Stewart, who announced his availability for the one-dayers after also opting out of the Tests.

Hussain won praise for backing youngsters Foster and offspinner Richard Dawson, who did well in their debut Test series in India last month. England lost the series 1-0 but showed unexpected resilience to confound predictions of an Indian sweep.

Hussain was critical of the length of the one-day series, which was extended with the late addition of a sixth game. "It's too much. It is a lot of cricket. I have spoken to the ECB and ICC to keep an eye on the amount of cricket played."

He refused to be drawn into a controversy over remarks by Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, who described England's Test performance as "boring".

"Sunil Gavaskar is a legend as a player. I will listen to what the great man has to say. He has his own opinion, we have ours. I have no problems with that and I am not going to give something back."

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