Sachin Tendulkar calls Nasser Hussain the best captain he faced
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Over the course of his storied career, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar played against many great captains, none of whom was better than English captain Nasser Hussain, he believes. He says Nasser's ability to anticipate a shot and plan in advance accordingly made him such a great captain.
In his 24-year long career, Sachin has played against many different captains at the helm of many different teams. Among all those, he regards English captain Nasser Hussain as the best opposition captain he's ever faced.
"Among the captains I played against, I consider Nasser Hussain the best. He was an excellent strategist and even if some of his tactics occasionally bordered on the negative - using the left-arm spinner Ashley Giles to bowl to me outside my leg stump from over the wicket, for example - he was a very good thinker about the game and was proactive," Tendulkar has written in his autobiography 'Playing it My Way'.
Nasser, who played 96 Test matches for England, captained his team in 45 of those between 1999 and 2003. "Nasser would not place a fielder in a particular position after a shot was played. Rather, he had the ability to anticipate the shot and would place a fielder well in advance, making a real difference to his team," wrote Tendulkar.
Tendulkar also had great praise for Michael Clarke, who he rated a better captain than Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, and Ricky Ponting. He also talked about Graeme Smith and how he did a great job after being handed over the reins of his team at the young age of 22.
"Among the Australians, I rate Michael Clarke as the best captain I played against. While I was too young to judge Allan Border in 1992, Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting benefited from having some of the greatest players of our generation in their teams. With so many match-winners, the role of the captain is automatically reduced. Graeme Smith of South Africa is yet another player I have great regard for as skipper. Taking over the reins of the side at the age of 22 in the most tumultuous of conditions, Smith did brilliantly to propel South Africa to the top of the world Test rankings," he wrote.
