Calcutta: Sanjay Bangar feels India's batsmen are under tremendous pressure and "playing for their careers" after their horror run in the first two Tests against England resulted in embarrassing defeats.

"...The players themselves are under tremendous pressure... They are playing for their careers. We understand that," Bangar said at the end of first day's play.

"At times when things don't really work in your favour, it is important to maintain composure, have the same sort of sense whether things are going well or not going well. Maintaining your equilibrium, that helps."

The batsmen's poor performances had put a question mark on the support staff, but Bangar said that such pressure only comes with the job.

"All of us understand clearly there is no magic wand we can work on any batsman. You have to understand the last five Test matches we played abroad have been in really trying conditions except for the Centurion Test.

"Take the Johannesburg Test, which we from within the group believe was one of our best performances, not in terms of the number of runs but the victory we achieved in trying circumstances. So what we value is that Test win over any Test win we have had.

"And yes, handling pressure is part and parcel of any professional's job and we try and do whatever we can do, the support we can give and the plans that we can strategise."

India's batting coach said that subtle changes in technique by the batsmen helped India at Trent Bridge. Virat Kohli top-scored with a determined 97 while Ajinkya Rahane made 81.

"The most important thing was that opening partnership was according to our expectation. In the two Tests we were losing two or three wickets inside the first 15 overs and the middle order was walking in early in difficult conditions. Also the way they were batting was good," said Bangar.

"The way Shikhar (Dhawan) made the changes to his batting, the way he reduced his bat speed, the way he played the ball later, these adjustments he made in the last 6-7 days, he should get credit."