Alastair Cook must not dwell on his bizarre dismissal, says Nasser Hussain

Skipper Alastair Cook must not let his bizarre dismissal get in the way of his primary aim - leading England to victory in the third Test against India, says Nasser Hussain.

Cook's epic eight-hour 190 came to an odd conclusion when he was run out backing up by Virat Kohli's opportunistic shy at the non-striker's end while taking evasive action.

The error cost Cook, who on day two became England's leading centurion of all time with 23 Test tons, the chance to register a double hundred but Hussain says the Essex batsman mustn't dwell on it but make sure that the tourists, who were 509-6 at stumps, make the most of their 193 run lead.

"I think we are going to talk about Cook for years to come," Hussain told Sky Sports. "Everything is going right for him because of the way he plays, and the way he prepares and his mind-set. I don't think he'll ever have enough of getting runs and batting well.

"He's a very disciplined young man and what might disappoint him is the ill-discipline he showed in getting out. As a batsman you think about the little mistake you made as opposed to the hours and hours of hard work you do before.

"I hope he isn't because all England fans, supporters and players will be thinking about everything that went before that moment but tonight poor old Alastair will be thinking 'why did I lift my bat out of the way?' But we mustn't dwell on that and nor must he."

Calm

Cook is currently averaging 136 in the four-match series, having scored 547 runs in five innings, and looked well-set to add to that total until he lifted his bat and inadvertently let Kohli's throw hit the stumps.

"Cook could have let the ball hit him or if he had touched his bat in and then lifted his bat for the ball to hit the stumps he would still be in there."
David Lloyd

Former umpire David Lloyd said Cook would have been well within the rights had he simply let the ball hit him and he went on to praise umpires Rod Tucker and Kumar Dharmasena for the way they handled the dismissal and ultimately came to the correct verdict.

"Cook could have let the ball hit him or if he had touched his bat in and then lifted his bat for the ball to hit the stumps he would still be in there, but he didn't have time to make his ground and so he was given out," said Bumble.

"One or two people are saying on Twitter that it is poor judgement from India to appeal and that he should be called back. That's nonsense! Cook knows he should have grounded his bat and that he's out.

"I thought it was anger and a bit of frustration from Kohli because there wasn't a run there; Cook was just out of his ground backing up but he threw the ball and he got lucky.

"I thought the officials were really calm and in particular Rod Tucker - he saw immediately what the problem could have been. Cook thought he was out but he held his hand up and said 'look - I just want to make sure that you haven't grounded your bat', so they went upstairs and it was done very quickly.

"As ever, the players don't know the laws and MS Dhoni had to go up and ask what was going on before Cook was correctly given out."

Control

Cook put on 173 with Jonathan Trott (87) for the second wicket to help England gain a first-innings lead, swelled by positive contributions from Kevin Pietersen (54), Samit Patel (33) and Matt Prior (40no).

Sky Sports expert Mike Atherton said that England's middle order has put them in firm control before fellow former captain Hussain gave his own analysis of the tourists' batting line-up...

Nasser on Trott

"He batted with a lot more fluency today. Number three is a pivotal position and he's filled it very well for a number of years now, but with two Ashes series coming up home and away, England will want Trott back to his best. He's been a bit short of runs, to be honest. He's not looked out of nick but he has struggled against spin a little bit and in the end Ojha got him with a pretty good delivery."

Nasser on Bell

"Bell is a touch player and touch players need to keep playing to score runs. I was worried last winter when Bell went into the series cold after a three-month gap with no runs behind him. He didn't get many runs in the warm-up game here, then he went home after the first Test, so I'm concerned by his lack of match-time. To miss a week and come back in was always going to be difficult."

Nasser on Pietersen

"Pietersen struggled at times today but you could tell from his body language that he felt 'I'm back' and he went on to 54. You know that he's going to score his runs pretty quickly and take the opposition on, and that's always good to watch."

Nasser on Patel

"He needs some runs because of how well Panesar is bowling. Once England went for two spinners, his chances of bowling quickly diminished and hence he has to make telling contributions with the bat and that's why he will leave the ground today a little disappointed. This was his opportunity to finish the day 60 not out at stumps and make a batsman's contribution. If he's going to play as a batsman, he needs to get 50-plus and he hasn't done that in the series."

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