Captain Andrew Strauss praises spirited England

Bell, Bresnan and Broad all made significant contributions to England's win

England captain Andrew Strauss saluted the resilience of his players after their 319-run victory over India in the second Test at Trent Bridge.

Having been 124-8 on day one, England mustered 221, fought back again to bowl out India for 288 and then amassed 544.

"It was a fantastic fightback and showed a lot of spirit and hunger," Strauss told BBC Test Match Special.

"We've seen quite a few instances of guys standing up when it matters and it's a source of great pride to see."

England will depose India as the number one team in the Test rankings if they are victorious in the third Test which starts at Edgbaston on August 10, leading 2-0 in the series having also won the first Test at Lord's.

"A lot of things went our way but I'm delighted for the lads. It has been two hard weeks but we got what we deserved," Strauss said.

The England selectors now face a dilemma ahead of the third Test, with pace bowler Chris Tremlett expected to be available again after injury.

His replacement at Trent Bridge, Tim Bresnan, had an outstanding match with bat and ball, scoring 90 and taking a maiden five-wicket haul in the second innings.

Jonathan Trott's shoulder injury may provide the opportunity for both Tremlett and Bresnan to play at Edgbaston but Strauss would not be drawn on the possible permutations of his line-up.

"We've had this situation for a while and it shows our great strength in depth, which is fantastic," the skipper said.

Asked about the controversial incident on Sunday in which Ian Bell was run out having thought the final ball before tea had gone for four, and was then reprieved when India chose to reinstate him, Strauss said: "I think it was the right decision.

"We had no qualms with what India did but we felt in the spirit of cricket there was a case for them to withdraw their appeal.

"It sets a good example to me and all the other captains.

"It's a tough situation when the pressure's on you, but I like to think I would have done the same thing.

"It's what sets cricket apart from other games and hopefully in years to come other captains will do something similar.

"It dissipated the situation very quickly and the game is all the better for it."

Meanwhile, pace bowler Stuart Broad was left to reflect on "a good couple of weeks," picking up the man-of-the-match award after his place in the team had been under serious threat at the start of the series.

He told Test Match Special: "It's been a great Test match to play in, and I'd imagine it must have been good to watch too.

"We were behind for much of the first two days, but we showed character to get back into the game - to go out and score 544 and give the bowlers something to bowl at was pretty special.

"Confidence is high at the moment - and for Tim Bresnan to get his first five-for in Test cricket was a very special occasion."