Andrew Flintoff: England captain Alastair Cook needs backing
Former England captain Andrew Flintoff says current Test skipper Alastair Cook will prove his doubters wrong.
In a wide-ranging interview, the all-rounder discusses whether he would work in England's management team and Kevin Pietersen's possible Test return.
And the 37-year-old is forthright in his defence of Cook, 30, who has scored just three half centuries in his last 15 Test innings.
"There will be egg on a lot of faces in the next few months," said Flintoff.
"I'd like people to start getting behind him, as opposed to being negative. He doesn't deserve that."
A partnership of 178 between Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim set up a total of 329, Bangladesh's highest in ODIs, and a 79-run win that backed up their claims of entering the series as favourites. A new-look Pakistan line-up, including two debutants and a captain-opener playing his first ODI in more than two years, made a good fist of the chase, but the pressure of a steadily mounting asking rate proved too much to handle. The win was Bangladesh's second against Pakistan, and their first since the 1999 World Cup.