Nasser Hussain © CricInfo The series between India and England ended in an anti-climax on Sundayand even though India won it by a 1-0 margin, Hussain and team can goback with their heads held high

Woorkheri Raman24-Dec-2001
Nasser Hussain
© CricInfoThe series between India and England ended in an anti-climax on Sundayand even though India won it by a 1-0 margin, Hussain and team can goback with their heads held high.The tactics adopted by the visiting captain has drawn a lot of flak from criticsincluding those in the British media. Hussain, the tough man that he is,has defended his strategy, and rightly so, which needs to beappreciated. As a captain, he has stuck to a plan and has shown noweakness when faced with a posse of questions from critics. This is thekind of captain a cricketer would love to play under. Harold Larwoodwould have wished he had Hussain as captain rather than the man heplayed under during the bodyline series.There was a fair bit of similarity between the bodyline series and thisrecent Test series. While Jardine accepted his bowlers could not containBradman, leave alone get his wicket, Hussain thought along similar lineswith regard to Tendulkar. In essence, the main objective was to keep themaestros of the respective generations quiet and hope they gotthemselves out. In as much as Jardine succeeded in a way in hisobjective, Hussain also would deem his ploy worked pretty well. The onlydifference was that the bodyline series turned violent while the recentseries concluded without any serious injuries to the batsmen.Hussain should be commended for being realistic and going about thingsin a pragmatic manner. He knew the strength or lack of it of hisinexperienced bowling attack and resorted to tactics, which would curbthe Indian batsmen. Though at times he went overboard with the leg sideline of Ashley Giles, he came up trumps in achieving the first inningslead in Bangalore. Hussain’s main aim was to frustrate Tendulkar but ineffect it worked very well in getting the much-fancied Indian batting tosurrender meekly. The top order batsmen suddenly found the going tootough and got out to deliveries bowled at the customary off-stump line.In all fairness, not many Indian batsmen got out caught on the onside,which reflects the fact that they were forced to throw their wicketsaway.The Indians have to accept that the English medium pacers found them outwith Flintoff and Hoggard succeeding beyond expectations. Giles playedthe role of an irritant to perfection and he had the ultimatesatisfaction of getting Tendulkar’s scalp in the last Test. The Indiansdid not get their bowling combination right and going in for the extraspinner at Bangalore did not make any sense as the conditions wereseamer friendly there.
Ganguly & Wright
© AFPIt seems that the Indian combination is decided more on subjectivityrather than objectivity. How else one could explain some decisions madein recent times. The Wright-Ganguly duo should see eye to eye in orderto get the team going in the right direction. One does become a badleader by taking bad decisions but he becomes worse by not taking thetough decisions. This is the difference in this series as the visitingcaptain Hussain took his own decisions and stood up to everyone inadversity.Hussain may not be very popular with the media and the cricketfraternity but he has achieved his objectives after the debacle in thefirst Test at Mohali. Though his tactics may not find approval he madethe Indians sweat both in Ahmedabad and Bangalore. The break will giveboth the sides time to work out plans for the one-dayers.The home captain needs this break not only physically but mentally too.This year has been a very poor one for him if we were to go by hisearlier achievements and it is time to for him to put on his thinkingcap and get back into the groove as a batsman.The visitors, meanwhile, go back home for Christmas and they will enjoythe wine and turkey as they have acquitted better than other sides inIndia. In a nutshell, the visitors have gained more even though theylost the series.