How Nasser Hussain Planned Sachin Tendulkar's Only Test Stumping

Sachin Tendulkar was a prized wicket for any team. He was a nightmare teams wanted to get rid of early and some even did after doing their due homework on the master batsman or simply through reading of the pitch. Former England captain Nasser Hussain was also keen in removing Tendulkar early and could dismiss him through sheer planning in a Test match played in Bengaluru, 2001.

Incidentally, it was the only occasion Tendulkar was stumped in a Test match, thanks to the vision from Nasser Hussain for making it happen. In a chat on Sony Ten Pit Stop, Hussain revealed how he orchestrated the stumping of the master batsman, who hardly lost his concentration on the 22 yards.

Nasser Hussain: I got Ashley Gills who was bowling a tight line

In the third Test back in 2001, England scored 336 runs in the first innings after opting to bat. In response, India lost their top three in quick succession, with Sachin Tendulkar playing a cautious knock to save the sinking ship. He was in the 90s when Nasser Hussain called up Ashley Gills, who was bowling a tight line, which worked wonders for his side as Tendulkar was stumped on 90 by James Foster.

“If Sehwag and Tendulkar are smashing you everywhere and the crowd going ballistic, ‘Sachin, Sachin!’ echoing around the ground, I would look into my bowlers’ eyes and they would be a little bit gone. So I knew the key was to silence the crowd, take the crowd out of the equation. And the only way to do that was to stop Sachin scoring,” Hussain said on the Sony Ten Pit Stop.

“That pitch in Bangalore as well, there was a bit of rough there, but nothing on the main pitch, it was an absolute belter,” Hussain added. “If our bowlers had just bowled on the normal bit of the pitch, it would have done nothing. So I got Ashley [Giles], who was bowling a tight line and not just chucking it wide down leg stump. Ashley got close to the stumps and bowled quite a tight line and try to hit that rough.”

The evenly fought contest ended in a draw.