Intro:

In Leicester in Wednesday (24th June), coach Duncan Fletcher looked ahead to India's first five-Test series in England for half a century and defended opposition skipper Alastair Cook.

Script:

Duncan Fletcher, India coach:
(On captaincy of England's Alastair Cook)

"I think he's a very determined individual, you know, he's very, very determined, which I think most opening bats have to be. In fact, you could have a look at a batter and pick them on their mental aspect, one of them would be they've got to be determined and stubborn and I think Alastair's got that. That's why he's proven with the runs that he's got, he's a very, very good opening batter and it's like everyone, you go through some bad times and you go thriugh some good times and I agree with MS, the trouble is too many people are quite happy to knock you off your pedastal, and when you go through those bad times, keep knocking them instead of... that's when they need the support."

Duncan Fletcher, India coach:
(On England's Alastair Cook)

"I'm never that confident, but you've just got to look at other people that have gone through it and managed to get through those periods and, you know, Alastair might do that... it might take him a little bit longer, who knows? But at some stage, he'll get through it and people will be back praising you again."

Duncan Fletcher, India coach:
(On India's desire to win the series)

"Well, any Test, you go out to win the series, reversing trends is not that important. What is important is that you go out trying to win the series. That's the most important thing. No matter what the result is, MS has pointed out, you want to go out there and win the series and that's what our objective is, to come over here and win the series."