Kevin Pietersen is not interested in excuses and the England captain expects his team-mates to ignore all distractions and deliver the goods in the two-Test series against India, starting in Chennai on Thursday.
The outcome of the series becomes almost irrelevant and few would criticise England even if they lose the series. It's a virtually win-win situation for the side after Pietersen and his men who grew in stature by defying terror and agreeing to continue the tour.
The England captain, however, is more interested in winning the series, rather than scoring brownie points.
"You could say we can't lose in this situation, but that's also a way of looking at things negatively and finding excuses. I don't want any excuses about what has happened," Pietersen said.
"There is to be no nonsense said about what has happened. I told the boys this morning that it's a case of coming to this Test match series like it would be in England.
"We travelled on Monday, we'll practise on Tuesday and Wednesday and play on Thursday. What has happened has happened and we can't control it, but we're in a very privileged position to be playing Test match cricket in India and we've got to deal with it in a professional manner," the England captain was quoted as saying by the Press Association.
With the 5-0 thrashing in the ODI series fresh in mind, winning would not be easy for the England side, more so especially in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks. Pietersen, however, is doing his best to get the focus back on the game.
"The main focus now is definitely on the Test series. It hasn't been a great start to the winter, there's been so much that's happened in the last six weeks and it's now a case of getting on and concentrating on the cricket.
"We need to chuck everything away that's happened in that six weeks to make sure that now our primary goal and focus is to try and win this Test match series," he said.
The heightened security around the team threatens to be another distraction but Pietersen said every individual would have to accept it and felt, from security point of view, the subsequent future tours would be no different.
"Whatever was said to us has happened. For the rest of my career, probably, that's what's going to happen now for future tours to the sub-continent -- we're just going to have to deal with it and play the cricket.
"It can be stifling to a certain degree, but our primary focus and goal now as international cricketers and sportsmen is to try and win a Test series. We've got to chuck everything away that's happened, create this little bubble that we've got here and go and perform," he asserted.
