Flintoff must try and rally his team before the final Test

Flintoff's second Test as stand-in for Michael Vaughan saw England lose in Mohali to go 1-0 down in the series.

"He's got a very, very difficult job here. He's an all-rounder - he's got to bowl, bat and captain the side.

"It's a huge amount of work that he's got to do and he's done very well with a very inexperienced side. There's only one person over 30," said Fletcher.

England must now win the final game, which starts in Mumbai (Bombay) on Saturday, to avoid a second successive series defeat, having been beaten 2-0 in Pakistan before Christmas.

Fletcher told the BBC the team's lack of experience had cost them dear at Mohali.

"It's a very difficult ask for these young guys. We've got four major players out and four new boys in the side.

"There were periods when we did play well, but we just weren't consistent enough," he said.

"It's always with young sides, as I've repeated on numerous occasions, about consistency. Experience tends to give you the consistency that's required."

Fletcher is looking for more patience from the batsmen in the third Test after England's hopes were again undermined by some loose strokes - and some bad luck.

"It's been shown on these wickets that people who go in there and really work at their innings and show a bit of patience get the rewards," he said.

Former England opener Geoff Boycott agreed that improved batting is the key to England's chances in Mumbai.

"We rely so much on the England seam bowlers. If they get in the game they can keep people down to reasonable totals.

"But we don't have quality spin and that's a factor in India - they have Kumble - so therefore you have to match them in the batting, and I don't think we do.

"Somebody has got to make 100 each match. I only feel Pietersen and Flintoff are really going to dictate terms and that is the difference," he told BBC Five Live.

"I thought that Andrew Flintoff batted absolutely superbly in both innings and showed how England should be playing Kumble by getting a big stride in and getting forward."