Mumbai, 11 Nov: As international cricketers we are privileged to visit some fantastic countries all over the world – but it is always a particular pleasure to tour India and play cricket in a country where the game has such a devoted following. This will be my third tour of India – and I am thrilled to be returning here as the new captain of the Test side following Andrew Strauss’s decision to step down from all cricket at the end of our recent series against South Africa. Andrew was a superb leader and I count myself very fortunate to have played under his captaincy during a period when we have enjoyed so much success – winning back-to-back Ashes series and rising to number one in the ICC’s World Test rankings last year after beating India four-nil at home. The challenge for me now as the new Test captain will be to build on Andrew’s achievements and make sure that we can win keep winning as many Test series as possible – in all conditions home and away. The same goes for the One-Day Series when we return here for the 5O-Over contests early in the New Year. There can be no better place to start than India. Any professional cricketer will tell you that a tour of India is something special and I have very fond memories of my first tour here in 2006 - both on and off-the-field. I was a late arrival on the tour – flown in from the England ‘A’ tour of the West Indies as a replacement after Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan had to return home – and made my Test debut in the 1st Test in Nagpur along with two other new caps, Monty Panesar and Ian Blackwell. I only arrived 72 hours before the game and could not have wished for a better start to my international career – making 60 in the first innings and my maiden Test hundred in the second in a memorable match which also saw Paul Collingwood make his first Test century. But my abiding memory of that tour is the way in which we fought so hard collectively throughout and ended up leveling the series in dramatic fashion by bowling India out for 100 on the last day of the 3rd Test in Mumbai. The only disappointing part was that I missed out on the final Test due to illness – but I was very proud of what we achieved as a team in that series. I am sure there will be plenty of England fans travelling to India this winter to get behind the team and on behalf of all the players and management, I would really like to thank you for your support. It really does help motivate everyone in the dressing room and we do appreciate your efforts. Finally, a word of thanks to all the Indian fans whose passion for cricket helps make any match between these two countries such a tremendous sporting occasion. We will be doing our utmost this winter to put on a great show for both sets of spectators – and I am sure MS Dhoni and his team will be too. Here’s hoping for a great contest – in all three formats of game