Tendulkar, not terrorism,
worries Hussain

England captain Nasser Hussain shrugged off security concerns on Thursday and said his inexperienced squad would be concentrating on playing matters during their tour of India.

"All we are worried about is the cricket," Hussain said, a day after the England players arrived on the subcontinent.

"We have got no worries at the moment apart from Tendulkar."

"We are not worried at all about the security," Hussain said. "Hopefully, we can ease off the security after some time."

The 16 England players, none of whom have played a Test match in India, arrived on Wednesday for a three Tests in December and, after returning home for Christmas, a five-match one-day international series in January.

Bowlers Andrew Caddick and Robert Croft pulled out of the tour because of safety concerns following September's attacks on the U.S. and the ongoing political situation in Afghanistan.

England, touring India for the first time in eight years, have a settled batting order, but their bowling has been severely weakened by the absence of leading pace men Darren Gough and Caddick as well as off-spinner Croft.

"We are a very inexperienced side," Hussain said. "But that has got to be in a funny sort of way an advantage to us.

"We will work together. We have got no real stars. We are all the same here, trying to learn from each other."

Hussain thinks England's biggest challenge, apart from dismissing the prolific Tendulkar, will come from seasoned leg-spinner Anil Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

The England batsmen, however, have played against Kumble and Indian seamer Javagal Srinath during their stints in county cricket.

"Obviously playing them (the spinners) in India is a completely different thing," Hussain said. "Their record in India is phenomenal. We have to learn.

"The only place to really learn is to go out there in the middle and get some runs."

England coach Duncan Fletcher recently travelled to South Africa to watch the Indians in action and although he has provided some video analysis, Hussain knows the conditions will not be the same.

"In India the bounce is different, the spin is different," he said.

England's first competitive cricket will a two-day game against a Bombay President's XI starting on Sunday, followed by two three-day matches before the first Test starts in Mohali on December 3.

Mail Cricket Editor