Hussain vows he'll be fit for final Test

David Lloyd13 April 2012

Nasser Hussain was back on his feet today and vowing to be fit for this week's final Test against India.

England's captain had to call for a doctor last night after becoming the latest victim of a stomach bug that has slowly but surely worked its way through his squad.

"I did feel very ill," he said. "But the doctor gave me a jab to stop the sickness and, hopefully, it's just a 24-hour thing, as has been the case with most of the other lads.

"I would have struggled to play today because I'm still feeling week but thankfully this has happened on a day off. I'll be okay for the match on Wednesday."

England's spirits, despite the odd bout of sickness, couldn't be much higher.

True, they were unable to force a series-levelling victory in Ahmedabad. But the way in which Hussain's team fought back from their first Test trouncing to outplay India for lengthy periods during the second match left them believing an away win here is not beyond the bounds of possibility.

A pitch that refused to crumble or offer anything more than slow turn, despite widespread predictions to the contrary, guaranteed a stalemate in the end. But there was no doubt which side took greater satisfaction from the contest.

The third day duel with century-maker Sachin Tendulkar especially delighted Hussain.

"That was the most enjoyable day's cricket I've played for a long time," said the captain. "Sachin had to really dig in and then, after lunch, he came out and clearly decided he'd had enough of being tied down.

"He was seeing it like a football and hitting it through mid-wicket from a yard outside off stump. It was one of the finest innings I've seen - and also one of the finest displays I've seen from us to bowl at him the way we did."

Hussain's handling of the most inexperienced attack, bar Bangladesh's, currently playing Test cricket has earned widespread praise.

But he is quick to point out: "For one game we've played as well as we can and we nearly had them. But if we fall below that standard we'll get hammered. We are still the team under pressure because we have to do everything right to compete."

No-one, however, is feeling the heat more than Sourav Ganguly, Hussain's opposite number.

Ganguly comes across as an aloof, even arrogant character, and his form as a batsman has suffered since he took over the captaincy from Tendulkar.

But some of the criticism levelled at him by Indian newspapers has been both vicious and unjustified.

The home side had no chance of making 374 in 97 overs to win at Ahmedabad, yet one newspaper here referred to Ganguly's "weak heart" while claiming that India had "chickened out of a challenging chase".

Remarkable to think, then, it was barely nine months ago that the same side, led by the same captain, came from behind to conquer world champions Australia.

England, meanwhile, must not only attempt to turn up the pressure on Ganguly this week but also find time to look a little further ahead.

They are expected to finalise their squad for the three-Test tour of New Zealand before leaving here - and Hussain accepts some tough decisions have to be made.

Fast bowler Andy Caddick can expect a place, probably at the expense of his current stand-in and Somerset colleague Richard Johnson.

But Robert Croft, who also withdrew from the India campaign because of safety concerns, is unlikely to oust fast learning fellow off-spinner Richard Dawson.

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