Mohali Test, Day 1
Monday, December 3, 2001

That collapse wasn't what we wanted – to say the least. Especially after the stand between me and Marcus. I'd like to make excuses and say it was moving around all over the place, but it wasn't. It seamed a bit early on, while the wicket was still green – but it certainly isn't a 240 all out pitch. I'd say a par score was 350 at least.

But there were a couple of lads in James Foster and Richard Dawson making their debuts, and two more in James Ormond and Matthew Hoggard who are still very new to Test cricket. I remember how I felt walking out to bat in a Test when I was inexperienced – it really is nerve-wracking. And English players just don't have the experience of facing unorthodox spinners like Harbhajan – all we ever see at home are normal finger-spinners.

I was pleased with my innings today – it was good to find some fluency. I've been playing well out here, and to be honest I've been in good form for six or seven months now. The pitch was a little tricky at first, but once I got my eye in it was great to bat on. You always knew there was a boundary around the corner.

That was the first time I'd faced Harbhajan. There's a lot of mystery about him, he bowls these undercutters which are bouncing and turning away from you, and he is difficult to read. He's a real threat, and he'll only get more dangerous as the pitch starts to turn.

I honestly don't know what I would have done if I'd won the toss. Not that it's a problem as I've lost the last 75,000 or whatever. I was still undecided as the coin was coming down. The history of the ground says bowl first, but my gut feeling was to bat. When we were in the nets this morning, our boys were running in, but it wasn't doing much off the wicket, so I'd probably have batted.

I don't regret leaving out Michael Vaughan, even in the light of the collapse. Believe me, you need five bowlers on these wickets if you're going to bowl out the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman. You can't be negative and pack a side with eight batsmen just because you're worried about being bowled out cheaply.

I had a hunch about bringing Mark Butcher on. The ball was nibbling around, and he bowled his slightly slower seamers just like Tendulkar did to us. He's a kiss-the-pitch type of bowler rather than a hit-the-deck one like Flintoff, which worked in those conditions. Mind you, I thought the batsman would get an edge rather than leave one – but I'll happily take the credit!

Nasser Hussain, captain of England since 1999, was talking to Camilla Rossiter. His thoughts will appear on Wisden.com throughout the Test and one-day series.

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