Tired and listless India in danger of humiliation

In his interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board, Fletcher was confused with another applicant, Sri Lankan-born Dav Whatmore, and when the new coach was finally unveiled beside the captain at a press conference at Lord's, he admitted he had never met Hussain before. It was, indeed, a shambles.

But that pales into insignificance compared to the challenge he faces as coach of India. He is now discovering the pressure of being in charge of the most fanatically followed team in the world with all the expectation, demands and highly charged emotion that comes with it.

With India now two-nil down and two matches away from losing their proudly-held position at the top of the world rankings to a rampant England, Fletcher faces a test well beyond anything he experienced at the ECB. Throw in the politics and the difficulties of managing a team of superstars and it becomes even more severe.

And to add to Fletcher's woes, three of those top names - Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid - are coming to the end of their careers. Set in their ways (albeit it highly-talented ways) how will he convince them that they must now follow his path?

Fletcher is tough and uncompromising by nature. In fact, he is the most stubborn man I have ever met - more so, even, than Geoffrey Boycott!

His relationship with the media when he was England coach was difficult at best, which he subsequently regretted, and I have detected a lighter and friendlier touch on this tour. This suggests he wants to do things differently, but also that he recognises he needs some friends around him.

His most pressing task is to get some energy and enthusiasm into what appear to be jaded, listless bodies. India look tired to me, and confirmation of that was their inability to press home the advantage which they held twice at Trent Bridge - when England were 124 for eight on the first day and when India were 267 for four and heading for a big lead on the second.

On both occasions they lost the initiative, to Stuart Broad as it happened, and their batting on the final day lacked fight and backbone. Their fielding is dreadful, MS Dhoni's wicketkeeping is ragged and, as captain, his field placings are often bewildering.

Virender Sehwag, India's first-choice opener, has already missed half the series and their leading bowler, Zaheer Khan, will be short of match fitness if he is available for selection at Edgbaston following his hamstring injury. That is some list of problems in Fletcher's in-tray.

There is no shortage of talent or pride, but energy is the tricky one. By winning the World Cup, India played the length of the tournament and a succession of highly pressurised matches. They were then subjected to the longest IPL in its history before embarking on a tour of the West Indies.

You can only dip the bucket in the well so often, and in the case of India's over-worked players, it is now running dry. This means more than simply being tired; it becomes difficult to raise your game when the situation demands.

This is all in sharp contrast to England, who I have never seen play better. While India are an ageing team, England are young, vibrant and ambitious. Every member is contributing, even when under the spotlight like Broad at Lord's and Tim Bresnan at Trent Bridge.

Matt Prior is unquestionably the best wicketkeeper/batsman in the world and his busy, bristling innings in the middle order are not only invaluable to the match situation, but his brilliant running between the wickets is quickly wearing out India's fielders, exasperating the bowlers and revealing Dhoni's shortcomings as a tactician.

If anyone doubted that England are on a roll, you had only to witness the dismissal of Yuvraj Singh yesterday. Andrew Strauss directed Alastair Cook to what appeared to be a suicidal fielding position, just a few yards from the bat in the off side. A rasping cut shot from Yuvraj's swinging bat would have cleaned him up.

But he was there for the perfectly directed short ball, aimed at the throat, and all Bresnan had to do was deliver. Sure enough, first ball, the Yorkshireman produced precisely the ball required and Cook took a splendid catch in Strauss's manufactured position.

England's captain must enjoy the moment - it does not happen often - but the force is clearly with him and his team. Fletcher must find something very special from his players very quickly if they are to prevent England from knocking them off their perch.