Kevin Pietersen remained typically bullish in the face of fresh security concerns in India today, insisting he is confident next week's Test in Madras (Chennai) will go ahead.

Indian airports were put on high alert of a terrorist attack this morning, casting more doubt over England's two-Test series, but Pietersen and Hugh Morris, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) managing director, refused to panic.

Pietersen has urged a show of solidarity to support the Indian people at a time of crisis, although there was a note of caution, with both he and Morris claiming that preparing in Abu Dhabi until Sunday "buys them some time".

"We'll assess the situation on Sunday night but I'm very confident we'll have 15 lads who are going to play a Test match next week," Pietersen said. "We can buy ourselves some time in Abu Dhabi and I think it's fantastic we've got a bunch of players who went to India initially and now want to go back there.

"It's very important that we go and rub shoulder to shoulder with the Indian people in their time of need and show our support by going back there to hopefully play some Test cricket."

In the meantime, the ECB will continue to implement security plans in Madras (Chennai) and will report back to Morris and at the weekend, when a final decision will be made.

"If there are any major catastrophes or alarm bells ringing I think Hugh will be ringing the board to say the collective decision would be to come home," Pietersen added. "But at the moment we're very focused on going to Abu Dhabi and to start a Test match on Thursday.

"The guys just want to get out there and play cricket. That's what we love doing and it's a huge stance by this England team to jump on a plane and go and do the business."

Pietersen stressed that no player had to be "persuaded" to go to India, particularly Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison, who both have young families and were initially thought to be against the tour.

"I think everybody's become a lot more open-minded as to their decisions," he said. "They've come home and spoken to their families which has been very, very important. "I didn't persuade anybody. I respect everybody's individual concerns. They are men and make decisions for themselves. Nobody was told or persuaded what to do.

"I think they (Flintoff and Harmison) have become a lot more open-minded in the last couple of days. They are two big players and we certainly want them in our team.

"I just feel really proud to be captain of such a great bunch of guys who want to play for their country."

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