One-day captain Alastair Cook says England need X-factor
Last updated on .From the section Cricket
One-day captain Alastair Cook says England need the "X-factor" as they start their long-term planning for the 2015 World Cup against India.
Big-hitting all-rounder Ben Stokes, 20, has been called into the England squad for the five-day series.
"You do need something special in the one-day game. Especially down the order with that X-factor," said Cook.
"I wouldn't heap all that pressure on Ben Stokes or whoever comes in to do that role."
Durham's Stokes, who has hit five first class centuries this season, was called into the squad for the rested Kevin Pietersen.
He played in last week's one-day victory over Ireland in Dublin.
Cook added: "You do need that ability in the one-day game to hit the ball out of the park.
"We've got four years until the World Cup (to look at players), but you also want to win every game that you play.
"There is always an eye on when we do arrive in four years' time that we have a settled and experienced squad that can cope with those conditions."
Ian Bell is set to move up into Pietersen's number four position.
"I think he [Bell] is going to bat higher than six - as he did against Sri Lanka," Cook added.
"We always have the right to be flexible in our batting order.
"With KP not here it gives someone else the opportunity to bat there. Hopefully whoever does it can take that opportunity."
England look likely to be without off-spinner Graeme Swann for the first one-day international at Chester-le-Street after he missed training with a stomach bug.
Meanwhile, India batsman Virat Kohli says the world champions will prove Nasser Hussain wrong after the former England captain, who was born in India, labelled some of the tourists "donkeys".
The comment prompted criticism in India with the Board of Control for Cricket in India vice-president Rajiv Shukla saying it was "totally uncalled for".
Kohli said: "Everyone has their opinion. We don't have to get angry about it and try really desperately to change it.
"I don't really pay attention to all of this. We just have to do what we have been doing for a while. We haven't become world champions just like that.
"If we fielded like the remarks that have been said then we wouldn't have been world champions."
