With England’s return to Test action less than a week away with the beginning of a five-match series against India, all eyes are now turning to Trent Bridge and the first exchanges between the two sides.

Over the last few weeks, there has been widespread debate over England’s captaincy, and the suitability of Alastair Cook in the leading role.

Former Indian captain Ravi Shastri has fuelled this debate further, recommending that he should be targeted by the visiting attack.

"If you have the leader under pressure always go for him,” he said.

“You need to get stuck in. You have to make the game as tough as you can. As an India player they will want this debate to continue."

"With David Gower, all we said was don't let him get runs in the first Test and let the pressure build. He lost the captaincy, India won the series.”

Shastri, who appeared in 80 Tests for India, taking 151 wickets and scoring 3830 runs, continued to celebrate Cook’s resolve and mental strength, but added that he wasn’t a natural captain.

"Cook is mentally very tough. He'll break all records for England," he said.

"The question is do you want a captain in Cook who is not playing freely or do you want Cook playing freely as a batsman?

“That is what happened to Sachin Tendulkar. As captain he felt the pressure was getting to his batting and it was taken away." 

Cook has found support in Stuart Broad, though. The Nottinghamshire all-rounder and England T20 captain was sure that Cook would prosper against a country he has previously excelled against.

"I don't think the captaincy will cause him too much pressure over a long period of time," said Broad.

"When you aren't scoring runs or taking wickets you expect a certain amount of flak, and that won't change until he scores a hundred. Cooky knows that.

“Winning Tests will help with his captaincy, but even if we are winning and he's not scoring hundreds he'll still be getting a certain amount of stick.

“He's honest. He's just a score away. But when you are in that hole it does seem a long way away. 

"As a fast bowler I think captaincy is tough in the longer format. I think Test captaincy is more suited to batsmen who can admire the game, get a feel for game and I certainly think Cooky is the right man for the job now."

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