Hussain: India at home are the best side
Anand Vasu - 2 December 2001
Nasser Hussain conducts himself well when he speaks to the press. The
Essex and England skipper listens to questions patiently and answers
them with care. Taking his time, the Madras-born leader of the England
team looked forward to the forthcoming series against India. The hour
of reckoning is here and Hussain's England know it. Excerpts:
On leading England in a Test against India in the country where he
was born:
No different from playing anywhere else really. I'm very proud every
time I play a Test match, every time I play for England. Obviously I
have some special feelings playing here. Ever since we arrived, people
have been very friendly to me. I've loved every minute of the tour so
far, on and off the field. But this is not about me anymore. It is
about England and the England cricket team and how we've got to be
successful in India starting tomorrow.
On leading an inexperienced side:
This has got both its plusses and minuses. Tomorrow, I'll be handing
out a few debut caps. It's a young side but one that is a pleasure to
lead. We are playing, without doubt, the best side at home that you
could play. India at home, with all their experience, on these kind of
pitches, with crowds behind them are the best side, as Australia found
out. Make no mistake about it. Whatever happened at South Africa is
different. We have to be at our best to beat India.
On playing in the Indian subcontinent:
The grounds are all very different from each other. The basic thing
however, in the subcontinent, is discipline. In England you can run up
and land four balls in the right area and let the wickets do the rest.
In these parts you have to be disciplined and bowl to a plan. You
can't bowl both sides of the wicket.
On the fact that Mohali could be England's best chance:
I wouldn't like to look at Mohali as a place where we have a special
chance. The Indians too have their own strengths on wickets like this.
One thing I must say though is that the ground, the facilities and
that kind of thing here puts a lot of other places to shame. The
wickets, the outfield, the nets, the bowling machine, the net bowlers…
everything has been perfect. We have no excuses going into tomorrow.
On the added responsibility on players to play the game in the
right spirit:
There's responsibility on the players of both sides to play the game
as it has been done for many a year now. When I was young, I watched
people playing cricket really hard. I expect us to do exactly the
same, playing hard but fair, in the next three weeks.
On whether the recent uncertainty has hampered preparations:
We've always presumed the series would go on undisturbed. We've had
three very good warm-up matches. We've come up against some fine
players this series already, there was Kambli at Mumbai. And we had a
really good game against India `A' where the game could have gone
either way on all three days. We've just been focusing on the cricket.
Personally, I've believed all along that there us no way that the
cricket would not go on in this part of the world.
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