Nasser Hussain talks about how his England team got Sachin Tendulkar stumped
Nasser Hussain has talked about how England came up with the strategy of bowling in the rough to Sachin Tendulkar. It resulted in the former Indian batsman getting stumped off the bowling of Ashley Giles for the only time in his Test career.
Nasser Hussain added that the current English spinners would need to bowl with a lot of control to keep India's run rate in check. Writing in his column in the Daily Mail, the former England skipper wrote:
"When we got to Bangalore it was clear 90 per cent of the pitch was flat, but outside the right-hander's leg stump there was a bit of rough, and it was spinning out of there. So I looked at Tendulkar and thought, 'Where would they prefer Ashley to bowl? The bit where it isn't spinning or the bit that gives Giles something to play with? The plan, then, was for the left-arm spinner Giles to bowl over the wicket into that rough and you could see Tendulkar didn't like it. It frustrated him. And in the end, he was stumped by keeper James Foster."
Nasser Hussain further added in this regard:
"Sachin did get 90 in Bangalore before he was stumped and India did win the series, so it was not as though it transformed things. But it was a way to keep Tendulkar quiet, just as Joe Root will have to keep Virat Kohli quiet if England are to win this time. The lesson really is that if you can keep control of the run-rate in India, then you are in the game. It is knowing when to flick the switch and attack while ensuring the run-rate never gets away from you by learning when to sit in and defend."
England, who will play a four-match Test series in India, recently beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in their backyard. However, the visitors are being seen as underdogs, following India's series triumph in Australia.
Nasser Hussain talks about England's problems
Nasser Hussain feels Jack Leach and Dom Bess will need to up their game against India as they have the habit of bowling loose deliveries at times.
"Root's problem is that Dom Bess, in particular, and to an extent, Jack Leach are still bowling the odd bad ball. Bess's control of length is not where it should be at the moment, so his captain is giving him protection, like a deep cover, which is commendable in many ways. But when a catch goes begging because you don't have that extra fielder around the bat, an opportunity is lost, and that reflects on the captain as much as his bowler," Hussain said.
The upcoming four-match series will be part of the ICC World Test Championship. For England to make it to the final, they will need to win three of the four Tests against India.