England captain Alastair Cook spoke ahaed of the team's first match aganst India A in Mumbai:

"We have seen Kev (Kevin Pietersen). He is desperate to get going, and we are desperate to have him back in the team. As I have always said, it is great to have world class players in our team, and if we want to play the standard of cricket we know we are capable of, we have got to have our best players to better do that."

"It is a huge challenge. History suggests how hard it is for an English side to win in the Indian subcontinent. That is where we have to head ourselves, but we have a great squad to try and deal with these challenges. We have got loads of experience, some new players who have not played that much international cricket and a great support network around us with our management team. So, we are in a really healthy situation now and I know I speak on behalf of the players; we are just desperate to get on with it, and get used to these conditions in these three games, and make sure we are ready for that first Test."

"It will be strange walking out to bat for England without Andrew Strauss. It was a pleasure to bat with him, and it was great knowing such a familiar face down the other end. We are friends off the cricket field and I think that showed in our relationship when we were batting. It is a shame that will never happen again, but it is a great opportunity for someone else to come and open the batting for England."

Written by Alfred Joyner