Nasser Hussain, who stepped down as England captain recently, received whole hearted praise from batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who described him as "a very good captain and always up to something".
"India and England have had some interesting duels on the field recently... and he (Hussain) was a very good captain; he was always up to something," Tendulkar was quoted as saying by CricketNext web site.
Hussain stunned the cricketing world when he announced his resignation immediately after England's first Test against South Africa early this week.
"I felt I was a bit tired and stale," said Hussain, who had opted out of one-day captaincy at the end of the World Cup in South Africa early this year.
Hussain, who was born in India before his parents moved to England, will be remembered as a shrewd captain who had the measure of Tendulkar.
He caused a huge rancour when he asked left-arm spinner Ashey Giles to bowl around Tendulkar's leg-stump to curb his strokeplay during a Test series in India two years ago.
Giles was successful in his task of keeping India's strong batting line-up under check and had Tendulkar stumped in the third and final Test in Bangalore, the only time when the star batsman was dismissed in such fashion in his 14-year long career.
But Hussain drew widespread criticism for damaging the spirit of the game by resorting to negative tactics.
Recalling the incident, Tendulkar said Hussain's efforts were within the laws of the game.
"Every captain has his thinking, his tactics. And Nasser had his ideas. In cricket, sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don't.
"Regarding Nasser's tactics against us when England last toured India, they were within the laws of the game," Tendulkar said.
Hussain was at it again when India toured England in the summer of 2002, when he asked his fast bowlers to come around the wicket to Tendulkar.
Tendulkar was dismissed for nought and 18 but strangely Hussain, known for his stubbornness, did away with the strategy in the remaining Tests.
