Were Kirsten’s boots too big for Fletcher to fill?

"Poor Fletcher: he had to hit the ground running, but the landing’s scorched his feet," writes Vijay Parthasarathy on First Post. "The cricket coach increasingly reminds me of Mr. Weatherbee – the bumbling principal in those old Archie comics, who floundered often but strove manfully to do his duty."

With India seemingly in cruise mode, it seemed Fletcher simply needed to focus on man management. He needed to establish a rapport particularly with senior players and earn their respect so as to slowly gain the authority to rein in some of the more exuberant ones. Unfortunately he’s going to have to do some firefighting first. The coming months could prove extremely stressful.

Meanwhile over the next year Fletcher will get compared to every past coach, foreign and Indian. He is at the very least answerable to Kirsten’s apparition, to say nothing of the BCCI and countless disapproving fans. He must think, ruefully: did Kirsten really have to win nearly everything at stake, take India to the number one spot in Tests and then rub the World Cup trophy in everyone’s face like that?

The Oval Test could be Suresh Raina's last chance to nail down that No. 6 position in India's Test side, until more vacancies open up in the batting order, writes Sriram Veera in Mumbai Mirror. And once again it's the short ball that's been his problem.

There has been a visible difference between his approach in West Indies against Fidel Edwards and now in England. Back there, he hardly tried to play the pull; he preferred to duck and weave ...

Here in England, curiously, he has shown a preference to try pulling. Of course the attack is more varied here; England can create a sense of claustrophobia with their all-round attack, especially in these conditions, and wear down the best, forcing you to make mental errors.