Hussain: 'World XI incomplete without Sachin'

Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, has said that the World XI side, about to take on Australia in the Super Series, is incomplete without the peerless Sachin Tendulkar, who has been ruled out owing to his tennis elbow injury.

"A World XI without Sachin is not a World XI," Hussain said while speaking in Mumbai, "because he is one of the greats to have played the game and Australians hold him as the closest thing to Bradman, if not better. Doing well against Australia has been the benchmark for most cricketers over Sachin's career and if there is one player who all the great Australian cricketers, like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, will pick out as the toughest player they have played against, it will be Sachin."

Hussain, though, didn't want to be drawn into the debate over the captaincy of the World XI side, adding that both Graeme Smith and Shaun Pollock were worthy leaders who were capable of leading star-studded teams.

Understandably, most of the questions directed at Hussain, who made a name for himself as a hard-edged leader who lifted England from the depths, revolved around captaincy. He maintained that Sourav Ganguly, when he played against him, was an "excellent captain" who he was "honoured to play against". However, Hussain added that captains need to realise their shelf lives and question whether they are up to the challenges at hand.

"As an England captain, I had to handle the Zimbabwe issue and many other political situations which really drained me," he said. "And it reaches a stage when you're fighting your own battles rather than fighting the opposition. What I fear is that Sourav may be fighting the wrong battles. Whether he still has the energy in him - after all these issues - to push India on to being the best side in the world, only he can judge."

Frank discussions between a coach and captain, according to Hussain, are regular affairs, and he drew parallels with his relationship with Duncan Fletcher. "The same conversations between Ganguly and Greg Chappell probably happened between myself and Duncan Fletcher on a couple of occasions," he said. "There were times, for about a year, when I didn't get a run and I spoke to Duncan about my position in the side. But we always made sure that whatever happened in the dressing-room stayed in the dressing-room. The most important thing for a team is loyalty and trust and however much we disagreed with each other, we were united together in front of the media."

Hussain felt that Chappell needed to be given a chance to do what he was recruited for - "to make India the side they are capable of being" - and had no hesitation in adding "If England can beat Australia, then India can beat Australia on a regular basis." He went on to gush about India's batting talent and felt that they had all the ammunition to challenge Australia for the top position in world cricket.

Talking about Australia, he said that it had been a new experience to see the team stutter in the recent Ashes series, and had no doubt that the difference between the two sides lay in "England's four quality fast bowlers who constantly battered the opposition batting line-up". He praised Michael Vaughan for his aggressive in-your-face approach, but cautioned that an overly aggressive mindset might backfire on Vaughan's side during their winter tours to the subcontinent.

"When I was captain, we didn't have any superstars in the side," he said while talking about England's success in the subcontinent in the winter of 2000. "We sat back and waited for the opposition to slip up. This side is different and they will probably take a more attacking approach. However that may backfire like it did for Steve Waugh's side when they toured in 2001. With Vaughan's attacking instincts and Fletcher's tactical brilliance, I think they'll probably use a mixture of both methods."