Chandigarh: Andrew Flintoff isn’t losing heart. The England stand-in captain believes this young team can turn around.

“In this game we have shown signs that we can compete with India. In Mumbai, we have to go out there, stick together and rally round... This side fights hard. And every quality we have, will have to come out in the open,” Flintoff said.

Flintoff felt the early loss of five wickets on the fourth evening proved crucial. “Last evening losing five wickets in the final session was crucial. It was tough to come back from there. With myself and (Geraint) Jones at the crease, we always thought we could put a few runs. But that didn’t happen?If you see the scorecard, a lot of us got in, but we didn’t manage to get the partnerships going. We carried on fighting and scraping, but in the end India were probably little bit too good on the day,” he explained.

Flintoff thought the young side has performed well. “We have got a young side. I think we have done well to compete in India. Last week in Nagpur, and in this game, we have shown signs we can compete with the best sides in the world. I think this is a good young side and we are showing character. We are going to learn from the mistakes and improve.”

While the batting has left him disappointed, the bowlers have lived up to expectations. “I don’t think you could have asked for anything more. The seamers ran in all day and gave it their all. It’s probably the batting that let us down,” he acknowledged. “Many of us got in and then got out; it would have been nice if one of us had gone on to score a big hundred and set a target. Last night was a tricky session. It was tough with the ball bouncing and turning and Anil Kumble was bowling well.”

Pietersen fined

Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen has been fined 30 per cent of his match fee for showing dissent at the umpire’s decision after his dismissal on Sunday. Pietersen was charged with breaching Level 1.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct by Match referee Ranjan Madugalle.