Strauss wants top-dog status

England begin a four-match Test series against the world's number one side on Thursday morning, but captain Andrew Strauss has no intention of going in as underdogs at Lord's.

Instead, with home advantage and a recent record that has seen his team undefeated in eight series, the opening batsman is more focused on usurping the Indians at the summit. To do that England must win by two matches or more - a tough ask, admittedly, but one that would not surprise Strauss.

Asked ahead of the historic 2000th Test if his side would be worthy holders of the ICC's top spot, he said: "I do, absolutely. I still think there are areas we can improve on so in that sense we aren't the finished article. But to be number one is relative to what other sides are doing. With our cricket over the last two years, I don't think there's been a side who has been better than us."

He added: "We've won seven out of eight series and the other has been drawn, but this is a new challenge for us and our ultimate goal in the long term is not just to be the side who is number one in the rankings but the side everyone agrees is the best side in the world.

"That's still a long-term goal regardless of whether we win or lose this series."

Strauss is also confident there will be no curse of the left-arm seamer when Zaheer Khan takes the new ball against him this summer.

The England skipper has struggled against such bowlers in the past, with Chanaka Welegedara wrecking his series against Sri Lanka earlier this summer, and Zaheer dismissing him on four occasions when India toured in 2007.

But Strauss scored 78 and 109no in a one-off appearance against the tourists for Somerset last week and fared well against Zaheer.

"You can overcomplicate this game. Zaheer is a very good bowler, his record suggests he's a good bowler, but we are prepared for it," he said.

"We have faced him before plenty of times as he has bowled at us. You play the ball as it comes. He's no different to any other bowler."