Nasser Hussain was born in the southern city of India, Chennai and had his first experiences of cricket when his father Jawad Hussain, a first class player for Tamil Nadu, took him to Chepauk for practice. Jawad Hussain moved with his family to England in 1975 and Nasser pursued his passion there, becoming the youngest player to represent Essex U-15 at the age of 12. He grew up the ranks quickly with his batting and leg-spinning abilities, but lost his spinning abilities 'as he grew taller'.

Hussain made his Test debut in 1990 against the West Indies, which England lost 1-2 but lost his place immediately owing to some inconsistent selection policies. He then returned in the 3rd Ashes Test 1993 and put up scores of 71 and 47 not out, only to be dropped again at the end of the series. He managed to seal his spot only in 1996, when he returned to the squad to face India. He responded with a score of 128 in the first innings and hit another century in the last Test to become the Man of the Series, and take over the number 3 spot for years to come.

More than his batting skills, it was his leadership abilities that had a major impact on England cricket over the years. He took over as skipper in 1999 under tough circumstances and had a poor start, when England lost to New Zealand at home. But Hussain and England bounced back soon, and went on to win four Test series in a row and also rise to 3rd position in the ICC Test rankings when it was launched. Even when his batting let him down, his innovative captaincy skills and his ability to extract the best from his players kept him in firm control of the team.

Hussain's One Day International career followed a similar pattern to his Test career. He made his debut as early as 1989 but became a regular only as late as 1996-97. He went on to make 16 fifties and a lone century against India at Lord's in 2002. He resigned from ODI captaincy after England's first round exit in the 2003 WC and relinquished the Test captaincy later in the same year. He bowed out of cricket on a high after scoring a century at Lord's in his farewell match against New Zealand in 2004.

Interesting facts: Nasser Hussain was under tremendous pressure, especially from Sky Sports' commentary team in 2002 as there were doubts about his suitability to the number 3 spot in ODIs. After scoring his only ODI ton, he gestured wildly to the press box and pointed to the jersey number 3 on his back to the commentary team. Little did he know that he would become their colleague soon, as Hussain joined Sky Sports soon after his retirement.

By Karthik Lakshmanan