It is important for a captain to be friends with his players, says Nasser Hussain

Former English skipper, Nasser Hussain, believes that a captain should demonstrate friendly attitude towards his players so that he understands their insecurities and gives them confidence to play with passion; however, he must not lose his dignity and status.
On the basis of his own leadership experience, he argues that a leader should assign extra responsibilities to dissidents instead of ignoring or expelling them.
Hussain aired these views in an interview with a famous TV commentator, Harsha Bhogle, yesterday.
“It is important for the captain to be friends with his players and let them know that he's one of them, but the captain should also know where to draw the line. At the end of the day the captain is the leader and it pays to be a bit stand-offish. Though there's nothing like honesty and trust to make players believe in you,” stated the ex-skipper.
Hussain stated that though he believes in teamwork, it must not affect the individual competitiveness.
He explained, “Cricket is quite an individual game and I quite like that. It's important not to quash individuality. I like competitiveness within a team, looking at someone else's stats, and pushing you to do better.”
Apart from this, the former leader also shared some glaring snapshots from his on-field career, avowing that cricket captaincy was always full of challenges and hardships.
Hussain wished well for the English team which reached India a few days back to play a bilateral series of 5 ODIs and one-off T20I. He also applauded the Poms’ untiring efforts and marvellous journey towards gaining the top spot in world Test rankings. He hoped that the team would maintain its hard-earned honour.
Nasser is regarded as one of the most successful skippers of England. He held the reins of the team after the ICC Cricket World Cup 1999 when they were going through trying times.
The 43-year-old played 96 Test and 88 ODI matches during his International career from 1989 to 2004. He also played 334 First-Class and 363 List A games in the domestic arena.

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ADAM GILCHRIST CITES DUNCAN FLETCHER’S VAST COACHING EXPERIENCE AS ADVANTAGE FOR INDIA

Former Australian wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist has said that newly-appointed, Duncan Fletcher’s huge coaching experience will work as an additional advantage for the Indian side when they compete England later this year.

Wishing the former Zimbabwean captain best of luck for his term as a coach with the World Champions, the former Aussie opener stated that Fletcher holds extraordinary coaching skills.

"He has obviously got great skills as coach and all the players from his previous teams seem to be supporting him and saying it's a pretty good appointment. So I wish him all the best," Gilchrist said.

Gilchrist, however, avoided to respond to the question that whether Fletcher will be able to replicate the success he accomplished as England team’s coach.

After Gary Kirsten's exit, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Fletcher as Indian national coach for the next two years.

The decision has started a controversial debate about the suitability of a foreign coach for India. The legends like Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar slammed BCCI for appointing a foreign coach while the cricket maestros such as Wasim Akramand Nasser Hussain have been appreciating the decision.

Although, Duncan has never played Test cricket, he is credited of lifting English team to their historic 2005 Ashes series triumph.

Fletcher, who will not be able to join the Men in Blue in their upcoming tour to Zimbabwe because of his personal commitments. However he will with the team when India locks it horns with England later this year.

Gilchrist, who is leading Kings XI Punjab in the ongoing Indian Premier League, uttered that Fletcher was the best choice for the post as he holds a lot of coaching experience under his belt.

When asked to comment on the appointment of a 62-year old coach, Gilchrist stated, "I won't pass comments on his age. It's more what skill he brings and the level of enthusiasm. He had all that in abundance when he was coaching other teams."

Kings XI Punjab’s skipper further described that Fletcher has huge expectations to meet as Gary Kirsten left the Indian side after taking it to the peak of International cricket.

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OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST SEBASTIAN COE CLAIMS CRICKET ECLIPSING THE FUTURE OF OTHER SPORTS IN INDIA

Chairman Organising Committee for the London Olympics 2012, Lord Sebastian Coe, who is a former English athlete and Olympic gold medallist, maintains that cricket is eclipsing the popularity of other sports in India.

He said that the craze for the cricket amongst India’s younger generation is hampering the progress of other sports activities, especially athletics. Other forms of sports in India also deserve the lime light and promotion, which can be made possible through a transition in Indian perspectives.

"Indian Diaspora can create role models from the world of athletics to promote sports activities other than cricket. We at London 2012 want to help Asian communities to create globalised role models," he said while speaking in a press conference.

Commonwealth Games 2010, that were staged in Delhi, proved that India has the potential to produce talented athletes. If India harnesses the skills of sportsmen other than those belonging to the field of cricket, more legacies can be created.

Coe went on to add, "Recently at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Delhi in 2010, Indians realised that they have very talented athletes and it is not just about cricket, and other games can create very strong legacies."

First class English cricketer Mark Ravin Ramprakash, former English cricket skipper Nasser Hussain, and left arm spinner Monty Panesar are few of the players with an Indian descent, who have represented England in county cricket and at the international level.

Regarding the matter of CWG Organising Committee Chief Suresh Kalmadi’s arrest, Coe refused to comment, saying that the issue is subject to Indian Olympic Association’s decision.

Suresh Kamadi who was arrested on grounds of alleged corruption last week, has not been dismissed from the position of the President Indian Olympic Association (IOA), as clarified by Vijay Kumar Malhotra, a senior official of IOA.

Coe reiterated the ambitions of London 2012, stating that the organization wants to promote all sports and make them a part of the social and political agendas of all the governments around the globe.

"London 2012 wants to leave a legacy in a number of areas and wants to ensure that sport is high up on the social and political agendas in countries around the world," he added.

London Olympics 2012 is managing the Paralympics and Olympics event as an integrated project. Few of the twenty games that have been organized for the category of disabled athletes include power lifting, wheelchair tennis, football 7-a-side, wheelchair rugby and archery.

Lord Coe, who was a middle distance runner, enjoyed an illustrious career in the Olympics world, with four medals to his credit, including the 1500 metres gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.

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