England vs India: Coach Duncan Fletcher Won't be Sidelined, Insists Ravi Shastri

The newly-appointed Team India's director, Ravi Shastri has insisted that the team's head coach Duncan Fletcher will not be sidelined for the limited-overs series against England, starting 25 August in Bristol.

Fletcher has come under sharp criticism, following India's Test series defeat against England. There were speculations that Fletcher will be sacked, after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Shastri to look after all cricketing activities.

"My role is to oversee everything," Shastri told ESPN Cricinfo. "All of them report to me. This is for the ODI series in England. He (Fletcher) stays as the head coach. And these two (Sanjay Bangar and Bharat Arun) will be his assistants. Fletcher won't be sidelined."

"I had no reservations about the job," he added. "I insisted on the coaching staff I wanted. I went (for domestic Indian coaches) because I felt they can contribute."

The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side won the second Test match at Lord's but lost three consecutive matches in Southampton, Manchester and the Oval.

Shastri pointed out the inexperience and lack of intent in the last three Tests, which handed India an embarrassing 3-1 thumping in the five-match series.

"If you put it down to one word - inexperience," Shastri pointed out. "If you calculate the number of Test matches played by the XI as opposed to some of the tours where we fared worse, here we at least won a Test match."

"On this tour I saw India's greatest ever overseas win I have seen," he added. "I know it because I have never seen a track like that and with this kind of inexperienced side for them to pull it off. Then I also saw some spineless cricket over the last three Tests matches."

Indian top-order failed miserably against the moving ball, especially Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli. Kohli, in particular, had a series to forget, as he couldn't make a single half-century and only managed 134 runs in ten innings.

Pujara scored a fifty on a flat Trent Bridge pitch in the opening match and batted quite well in the second Test but was unable to put a fight in last three matches. Shastri criticised both Kohli and Pujara, after the fifth Test, for their lacklustre performance.

"I was hard on Pujara and Kohli specifically because they came here with big reputations," he said. "And they have been brought down to earth with their techniques being found out against the moving ball. And there is nothing wrong in that, it has happened to the biggest players."