'England didn't lose on Day 4...': Nasser Hussain's eye-brow raising 'no shame in...' comment after series loss to India
Hussain was highly impressed with India after the series-clinching win as he hailed the hosts for a big turnaround after losing the first Test.
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain was all praise for India after their terrific win on Monday in Ranchi which also helped them secure the series. In a thrilling contest where England had the edge in the first two days, India made a big turnaround courtesy Dhruv Jurel's fighting 90-run knock in the first innings followed by some terrific bowling performances by spinners Kuldeep Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin and then a resilient chase led by Shubman Gill to pull off a 5-wicket win on Day 4. With the win, they also took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
The absence of star players like Virat Kohli and KL Rahul (after the first Test) left a big void to fill but the young guns like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel stepped up in crucial situations to rescue India.
The bowling unit also put up collective efforts throughout the series to negate England's Bazball approach as Ben Stokes lost his first Test series after taking over the captaincy charge.
Hussain was highly impressed with India after the series-clinching win as he hailed the hosts for a big turnaround after losing the first Test despite missing some star players.
"England did not lose the game today (Day 4), the game was lost yesterday (Day 3). What a turnaround from India. I think India deserve credit for the way they have played throughout the series, to be honest. India have been without some star names, there is a long list of people who are missing, and yet they managed to put in performances," Hussain said on Sky.
It was India's 17th consecutive Test series win on home soil which depicts their sheer domination as hosts in red-ball cricket. The English team did manage to pose some threat after winning the first Tests but they failed to play consistent cricket in the last three matches.
Hussain claimed that there was no shame in losing to the current Indian team and suggested that England let the fourth Test slip from their reach on Day 3 with Jurel's 90-run knock changing the script.
"Their home record is absolutely phenomenal, so there is no shame in losing to this Indian side. Like with any Test series or even any Test match, you look at key areas, where you let the game slip, and for England, it was all of yesterday. What could have been a 100-run lead ended up being 46 runs," Hussain said.
The final Test of the series will be played on March 7 at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala as both teams will continue to play with the same intensity there considering the WTC points table impact.
