NRI News- Naseer Hussain, I am British but proud of my Indian roots

I am British but proud of my Indian roots, says Naseer Hussain

Nasser Hussain

Full Name: Nasser Hussain
Born: 28 March 1968, Madras (now Chennai), India
Major Teams: Essex, England.

Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Leg Break
Other: Commentator

London, September 27, 2004
Nabanita Sirca
Hindustan Times

The former captain of the English cricket team is proud of his Indian roots. In his forthcoming autobiography Playing With Fire he introduces himself as: "A guy born in India called Nasser Hussain, with all the racial connotations and accusations of divided loyalty that it has brought... It would have been unheard of not many years ago but I did it. I achieved it and I am proud of that. It was down to Dad." He remains proud of his Indian roots but maintains he is a 100 per cent English.

Hussain, who brought English cricket back from the brink, writes: "Cricket was never just a game to me, it was far more important than that." And he owes it all to his father. "I always had the fear of not living up to my dad's expectations".

He admits: "My life was mapped out for me from a young age by my dad. My Indian father and English mother took the gamble of leaving their prosperous life in India, where I was born in Madras, to start afresh in England in 1975 when I was seven."

He reveals in his quite candid autobiography, to be published on October 14, that when his mother learnt he was writing the book she sent him a letter explaining a lot of things he was unaware of. It was through the letter that he discovered he was born premature and that his parents almost lost him. "Mum and Dad already had two boys Mel and Abbas, but they had been through the traumatic experience of losing a daughter through cot death at six months. Mum plunged into depression and the only way she could cope with that was to try to fall pregnant again as quickly as she could."

"So she did, but there were problems. The doctors in India told her on several occasions that I had died within her. She was even told, brutally, that I would have to be flushed down the toilet." But his mum fought "to give me a chance to live and she believes that I am the way I am, a fighter, because of this."

He writes it was his father (Jawad by name but known as Joe) who decided to move to England with his family. "It sums up everything he always stood for." He gave up his home and job in India to give his children an English education. "I have always considered myself to be 100 per cent English. Everything I do, everything I am, my accent, my upbringing, is totally English. I love the country and have always considered it home. But I've always been proud of my Indian roots."

He writes that having considered himself English he has never thought of himself as a role model for British Asians. "I have always felt second and third generation Asians were still clinging to their sub-continental roots, whereas I feel they should embrace their Britishness and start swapping their Tendulkar shirts for Flintoff or Harmison ones."

"It's a delicate subject, but I do feel that there's a huge amount to gain by the Asian community nailing their colours to England's mast, both as players and supporters. No part of the English public follows cricket with more passion than the Asian community and the potentially deep well of talent they provide is not something future England teams can afford to ignore."